Willow put the telephone receiver to her ear, listening as it rang a few times. She heard a voice as she smiled; glad the person behind the voice was alive… and sounded reasonably well. In fact, he sounded really happy. That was a first. A definite first. "Hey Angel, how goes everything go in LA?"
"Willow! Hey, nice of you to call. It is always nice to get a call from someone who I care about. Everything is great here, everything is perfect. Never in my life… or undead life have I been this happy." Willow paused, taking the phone off her ear as she stared at it a moment.
"Angel, when I left Los Angeles you guys were facing an apocalypse. I do recall some big bad coming… did you kill it? Did you kill the very thing you were going after?" Willow asked, getting caught up in the moment and eagerly waited for an answer. She wanted to hear about the big battle… since Angel seemed so happy.
"Will, Cordelia was pregnant. We found out the master was Cordelia, with the child. And… and… I went to go kill her. I went to go kill the child…" Willow listened, wondering if the phone was breaking up. Then suddenly it clicked in her mind. Angel was cracking up. He was crying.
"Oh my god… you mean Cordelia was the evil the whole time? That's… horrible… did you kill the child? Did you stop the evil?" Willow asked, anxious to find out what happened to their old Sunnydale friend. Cordelia was pregnant? And she didn't know? Willow's eyes widened as she remembered being alone with Cordelia.
"Evil? Oh god, Willow... I tried to kill her. I went to go kill Cordelia before she had the baby. But when I saw her… I… couldn't believe I tried to kill her. I tried to kill Jasmine. Oh god, I can't believe I almost did it…" Willow's back hit against the wall in shock. Angel was crying. Full tear crying… she could hear it.
"Hey, Will. Who died?" Buffy asked, looking to Willow's face. Willow was in shock. Buffy walked over to the witch, looking from her to the phone curiously.
"It's Angel… and he is crying…" Willow whispered, hoping the vampire couldn't hear her. Buffy's mouth dropped open as she stared at Willow in shock. "Evidently he went to kill the big evil… and from what it sounds like… Angel is crying because he almost killed her. A Jasmine?" Willow said, trying to piece together the short conversation into making sense. Willow passed off the phone to Buffy, hoping she could figure it out.
"A-A-Angel?" Buffy stammered into the phone, slapping her forehead. She couldn't possibly squeak anymore in a two-syllable word more than she just did. She was a little freaked out, Willow said Angel was crying. Actually crying.
"Buffy?" Buffy smiled a bit, hearing his voice. It was comforting. She heard him let out a sob as she frowned. Where was her angel and who the hell was this cry-baby?
"Yeah, Angel. It's me. I heard about the apocalypse. What is going on? IWhy are you crying?" Buffy asked concern evident in her voice as she leaned against the wall, Willow's head near the phone to listen to the conversation as well.
"I tried to kill Jasmine, Buffy. I am so glad I was stopped… to think I would try and kill her. God, Buff, it feels so good to hear your voice again. I miss you so much Buffy. I never thought I could be so happy without you, but being with Jasmine brings so much happiness… I love you Buffy, you should come to LA and meet Jasmine. She will love you, like she loves all of us. Man, Jasmine is the best."
"Oooookay… um, Angel… uh, where is Wes? Is Wes there? Can I speak to him?" Buffy said slowly, wondering who Jasmine was and what she did with the champion. Not to mention he sounded so… happy-go-lucky. She loved brooding Angel, not devoted to some chick Angel.
"Wes is out with Gunn finding Fred. We must find Fred and find out why she rejected Jasmine's love. Once it is sundown Connor and I are going out to find her. I should kill her for having so much hate…" Angel growled, causing Willow to let out a squeak.
"Who's Fred? Isn't she that nice girl from the hell dimension you told me about? I thought she was part of the team, why would Angel want to hurt her?" Buffy asked, putting her hand over the phone so Angel wouldn't be able to hear.
"I don't know… when I was there everyone loved Fred… I loved Fred…" Willow stammered, her face flushed as she thought about Angel hurting someone. And someone as innocent as Fred. That was horrible.
"Angel, um, great catching up… I am going to go… I have to go… fight… and patrol…" Buffy said quickly, hanging up the phone. She slowly turned to Willow, scared. "Where is my ex? That was not Angelus and there is no way in hell that was Angel."
"Let me call Fred." Willow said, yanking the phone from a surprised Slayer as she dialed in Fred's cell number. Willow waited, listening to the ring as Buffy listened in with her slayer hearing. This was pretty interesting; LA seemed to be going through worse than the first here in Sunnydale.
"Wait until Xander hears this. No, wait, I can't even begin to wonder what Spike will say when we tell him about this." Buffy said, frowning. She wanted to go and save Angel, snap him out of this. Even if she was no longer in his life, he shouldn't be so obsessed over someone. It had to be a spell.
"Hello? Fred? What is going on! I called Angel… and he is like a total zombie! He was talking non-stop about this girl, Jasmine. And then he said he wanted to kill you! What is this evil and what happened to Cordelia?" Willow asked, her words forming together into one long word.
"Oh, god Willow! I am so glad to talk to you! Someone who isn't totally zombie-fied by Jasmine. Cordelia gave birth to this goddess… Jasmine. She put everyone in this spell and everyone worships her. She makes everyone feel happy and loved… but it's all fake. I… I feel so alone… Gunn is after me… Wesley too… I have to stop it…"
Willow looked sadly to Buffy. The sadness of Fred' voice was evident. So alone and lost. "Do you want me to come? Buffy and I will be over there so fast and kick Jasmine ass." Willow said, Buffy's eyebrows raised in slight surprise at being volunteered over this. Jasmine sounded dangerous, if she had everyone in control, including Angel…
"NO! You will fall under her spell. And you need to stay in Sunnydale, whatever you do, don't let Jasmine come into your town. If you hear word about her… leave. You will fall under her spell. I was the only one to escape because… because… well I don't know… but I will stop them…"
"Fred, I am sending you a protection spell. I will make sure you can't be killed. Just… stop Jasmine… and save Angel… okay? I will do the spell right now; there is no way you can be killed. I will keep it going for a few days." Willow said, taking control.
"Thank you…" Fred stammered, smiling. It went silent on the phone as Willow waited, to see if she would say anything else. "You might want to hurry up on that spell. The people… they know who I am… I have… I have to go…" With that, the phone went dead. Buffy looked to Willow, both worried.
"You might want to hurry on that spell Will." Buffy said.
