Chapter 10

Cordy cried out and held her head as if it was about to split open. In that exact moment Russ' eyes widened and he stood up in shock Angel quickly grabbed Cordy and held her to him to prevent her getting hurt in the throes of her vision. Fred moved forward to help Cordy and Russ pushed himself out of the booth and, as he walked backwards, he tripped over one of the stools by the counter and fell onto the floor heavily. This caught Fred's attention and she turned to look at him worriedly and quickly got out of the booth too. This caused Russ to crabwalk backwards in fear and Fred looked at him wide-eyed. Worried.

"Russ?" Fred asked but Russ didn't respond. He kept going backwards until he got to the door and then he scrambled up and ran out of the door. Fred looked torn as he backed off and disappeared. She looked from Angel and Cordy to the door of the brightly lit diner. Angel looked up at her, his eyes clouded with worry but the answer lay clearly there. She quickly exited the diner, hoping that Cordy would be okay, and glanced around quickly before spotting Russ who was stumbling around at one end of the street.

Angel watched Fred depart and held Cordy tightly to his chest, ignoring the blows she was letting loose that were glancing off of his shoulders and chest. Cordy struggled against him and he tightened his arms that were wrapped around Cordy and her arms. He felt his chest constrict in a feeling that is felt by a person who loves someone else who is in pain but that they can't help.

After a few glances from the waitress behind the counter Angel made another decision and swiftly scooped Cordy into his arms, still holding her tightly to him and carried her out of the diner. He picked up Fred's trail and decided it would be best if they met up so he started to follow her scent, Cordy still struggling in his arms.

Fred jogged along the street following the crashes, footfalls in front of her and the back of the man fleeing from her. She ran so fast across the pavement that she felt like she could've been flying. There was a crash in an alleyway to the side of her and she walked quickly into it. She slowly approached a man shaking and quivering in the corner of the alleyway.

(This next bit is Russ just mimicking all these lines from the characters specified. At the end imagine that the lines start coming faster and closer together.)

"The wormy won't dance if he's not told to." Drusilla.

"I'll take the dragon." Angel.

"Handsome man saved me from the monsters." Fred.

"Didn't occur to you that something might've changed?" Fred.

"The cavemen win." Fred.

"Cordy's dead. She never came back." Angel.

"I want you to have something real." Cordy.

"After this I'm done." Lorne.

"Angel kills me." Lindsey.

"These endless days are finally ending in a blaze." Buffy.

"You never know until you're tested." Doyle.

"One last job." Lorne.

Then Russ was quiet and Fred bent in front of him, confusion lying clear across her face. Especially since most of the things he'd mimicked were things she didn't know of. Especially all expect one of the lines that she recognised as being said in her own voice. Russ looked at her as if seeing her for the first time and said one thing,

"Were we in love?" He used Cordy's voice for this and Fred just looked at him wordlessly.

"You are in love." Angel said quietly and both Fred and Russ looked at him. He was standing there with Cordy in his arms, having just heard most of what had just been said.

"What do you know?" Russ asked harshly and Angel looked slightly taken back. This was the first time that Russ had ever been harsh to Angel. Russ continued, his voice going from harsh to hurt, "You know that Cordy is alive, that she woke up from her coma and just moved away from LA. That she just chose to move back right now and that everything seems to be wrapping itself up well. I got news for you Angel, its not. You and I both thought that. And you and I both thought that Fred just moved away and chose to come back now too. Well you and I were wrong. And I know that now. And it's killing me."

"What do you mean?" Fred asked softly, hurt showing. Russ looked at her and found himself speechless, not able to put his thoughts and feelings and discoveries into words.

"Cordy's not coming back." He said, his eyes shining with unshed tears and he continued, after a pause during which he tried unsuccessfully to gather himself, "And when she's gone you're gone too."

"What?" Fred asked and Russ just shook his head and looked at the ground intensely.

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked with a stormy expression on his face.

"You recognise this place?" Russ asked, glancing around the alleyway and Angel glanced around shortly before recognising it, accepting the dodge for the moment.

"This is where we first met... And where Darla died and Connor was born." Angel said, realising where they were and Russ nodded.

"This is a big spot. Centre of mystical convergence kinda place." Russ began and then went off onto a different path altogether, "When I was sent here I was sent here with all the knowledge you had. And that knowledge was altered when yours was. Until now. Cordy never woke up from the coma, she died. Fred died a few weeks after that when a parasite hollowed out her body and used it as lodging for an ancient god."

"What-?" Fred said so softly that no one actually heard her and Russ continued.

"Right now Cordy's getting an update through that vision she's having..."

"Well when it ends we'll have her back. Right?" Angel said, holding Cordy just that little bit tighter.

"No. When it ends... She'll be gone. And Fred with her."

"What?" Angel almost shouted at Russ and Russ retreated into the shadows.

"You don't understand. They're not meant to be here. Cordy and Fred were here for one purpose only, to get you to want to have a soul again. And they've done that. So now the Powers think that there's no point in keeping them here." Russ said, and you could hear the tears weighing on his speech. Probably the only thing stopping Angel from dropping Cordy and beating him to a bloody pulp.

"If Cordy goes do you really think that I will want a soul?" Angel asked, teeth gritted and anger clear.

"If Fred goes do you really think that I'll have the power to give it to you?" Russ asked back quietly and it had the desired effect. Angel went quiet, realising how true the question was. Russ continued quietly, "We both lose something from this Angel. Don't think that I'm the bad guy here. I don't want either of them to go."

"Then don't let us go." Fred said, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"I-" Russ said and then found himself speechless.

"Russ, ah love you and ah don't want to go anywhere." Fred continued and Russ just looked at her with this sad puppy dog look in his eyes.

"I love you too." He replied and Fred put her hand in his.

"So let's work the problem." She said, squeezing his hand, trying to give him hope through her eyes that there was a way to figure this out and come out on top. Something seemed to change in that instant. Through that touch Russ felt as if some hop had been instilled in him and Angel felt this change and also seemed to respond to it.

"This isn't a science problem that you can 'work' Fred. This is the Powers we're talking about." Russ said dejectedly. But only his voice was dejected, hope seemed to shine in his eyes which showed that he thought with Fred that, somehow, the could work around it.

"Then let's work the Powers. Ah mean..." Fred trailed off and the attempted to recover, "You know what ah mean." The two guys looked at each other with mischievous looks and decided to make Fred sweat it.

"No." Angel said and Russ said at the same time,

"Not really." Fred looked at the two of them and just calmly smooshed Russ' hand which was in her own hand and Russ winced shortly before surrendering.

"Okay, okay. Sorry, sorry." He said and Fred loosened her death grip and smiled at him sweetly. He grimaced back as he got his hand back from Fred and shook it, trying to get the feeling back into it.

"So how do you propose we 'work the powers'?" Russ said, not being able to help himself, with enough self control to only smirk heavily and actually repress the laughs building up. For about five seconds. Then he started sniggering and then came the full blown laughter. Then came the hitting from Fred to Russ' arm and then the laughter turned to whimpers. The girl could pack a punch.

"You should go before them, try to explain the situation." Fred suggested but Russ shook his head.

"Wouldn't work, the powers are like the evil city council. Wouldn't even spend five cents or two workers on the worthiest of causes. Like a gigantic pot hole in the middle of the main road that makes your car go KA-CHUNK every time you drive there..." Russ trailed off as he realised the looks he was getting, "What? Okay, bottom line they wouldn't go for it."

"Why not?" Fred almost whined and Russ looked at her.

"Did you not just hear my evil city council speech? Y'know the one with the pot hole and the KA-CHUNK." Russ said and Fred nodded.

"Yeah, ah did but still."

"No, no still. Fred, huns, babe, beautiful love of my life, this is the Powers That Be we're talking about here. And when Cordy's done getting the full upload it's over. You're both back to where ever you were and Angel gets his soul secured. Dunno what he's gonna do to celebrate though..." Russ said and trailed off probably thinking of Angel sitting down brooding in a dark corner with a bottle of old wine in hand.

And looking at Angel you could tell he was thinking of it too. And living it... Except without the wine. And it brought him back form the mischievousness of before down to earth and the struggling Cordy who had her head back and was bucking wildly in his arms. He tried to settle her unsuccessfully and went back to looking all broody.

"Well can't there be something? Like a mission where we can save the world. You know, like when we stopped world peace we got Wolfram and Hart, it could be like the opposite of that. We could make world peace and get to stay in the world." Fred said and Russ smiled slightly at her suggestion.

"You're sweet, and so cute, but it'll take something big." Russ said, taking Fred's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. Fred looked at him glumly and he leaned over and put a kiss on her forehead. This cheered her up, even if only slightly.

"What about the trials?" Angel said all of a sudden and the two lovers turned to look at him, puzzled.

"You mean the trials you went through to try and give Darla another chance at life?" Russ asked and Angel nodded. Russ stood up all of a sudden, hope renewed.

"That could work. I mean, that guy still owes you a life. But then, you can't go through the trials twice, even for two different people." Russ said and looked at the ground, then he looked up determination in his eyes, "I'm gonna go for Fred."

"No! You can't. You won't make it." Angel insisted but Russ stood steadfast.

"I will." Russ said determined.

"They're meant for heroes. You're just a messenger. You won't last the first trial."

"Angel, trust me. I got a few tricks up my sleeve. Plus," Russ wiggled his fingers in front of Angel's face, "I'm regenerative remember?"

"Russ, maybe you shouldn't. Ah mean what if Angel is right. Ah know you have the potential to go through this and ace it but what if something happens. Ah can't lose you." Fred said, trying the approach of letting him down easy but Russ wasn't going to take it.

"And I can't lose you." Russ cupped Fred's cheeks with his hands and he looked deep into her eyes, "I love you Fred and there's no way I'm letting you go without a good fight." Fred looked up at him, her eyes shining brilliantly and Russ bent down to kiss her gently. After a few seconds Angel coughed and the two separated slowly before Russ shot Angel a look and Angel just shrugged at him and did his best at indicating to his watch with Cordy in his arms.

It took them about ten minutes to get to the pool and when they got there Angel set Cordy down next to Fred who promised to take good care of her until they got into the trial area and the two men/demons/half demons looked into the empty pool. Russ gulped visibly and audibly.

"This ain't gonna hurt is it? Cos I didn't actually feel what happened in this part. And I figure some feeling has to be involved." He asked and Angel shrugged.

"It's like an electric shock coursing through your body." He said, enjoying the white look that came over Russ' face from the little white lie he'd told.

"See you down there." Angel said over his shoulder to Fred and the still unconscious Cordy. Fred nodded and Russ looked at Angel.

"Electric shock huh?" He asked and Angel nodded shortly before diving in. Russ did one of those air crosses in front of his body and dived in after him.