Chapter Eleven
"What do you mean Fred's sick?" Max flinched.
"Could you tone down the hysteria, please? You sound like a screeching Howler Monkey," She commented, rubbing her ears. Dawn just scowled at her. Buffy was busy picking out weapons for her and Max, tuning out the whole thing. At least until Dawn got a bright new idea.
"If Fred's in trouble, I should help," she stated, walking purposefully towards the chest full of weapons. Buffy quickly stepped in front of her.
"No," she replied firmly. "You have to stay here until I get back."
"That's not fair!" Dawn complained.
"What in life really is?" Max mumbled as Buffy handed her a broad sword, taking an axe for herself.
"Buffy, I'm seventeen years old. That's old enough to just check out some hideout of a Texan lunatic with a bunch of ink on his body!"
"Uh...the ink isn't on him anymore," Max pointed out. Dawn rolled her eyes.
"So not the point I was talking about."
"Well, the only point you should be talking about is the ones you'll get for playing this video game," Max retorted, tossing her a control with a bright smile on her face. "Have fun!" Then she gave her a little finger wave and headed out the door.
"Max, wait!" Buffy called after her. Max popped her head back in the room, her smile starting to look forced.
"What?" she asked.
"Wait," Buffy repeated before turning to Dawn. Max blew out a sigh. "Dawn, please. Just stay here. When we're done I promise we'll take you back to Wolfram & Hart. But you'll only be doing research, alright?" Dawn's face suddenly brightened and she nodded. Buffy returned it. "Okay. See you in a while."
As soon as they were back outside the hotel room, both of Max and Buffy's smiles disappeared, as if they hadn't even been there in the first place.
"Ready to go?" Buffy asked, her tone cold and hard. Max gave one nod of her head and they continued walking out.
"So you think she'll be alright?"
Alec glanced up from the book he was studying to look at Faith. His face remained stoic.
"How would I know? Some dust pries it's way into her body...Never heard anything like that before." He sighed heavily. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"But you've known her the longest, out of all of us," Faith continued. Alec's brow furrowed. "And plus there was that little thing she said that's been bugging me...How the hell can she be okay? Why isn't she like Fred? How can she be immune to something like that?"
"Oh, you're talking about Max," Alec deadpanned. Faith glared at him.
"No, I'm talking about the other raven-haired supersoldier that thinks she's invincible. Goes by the name of Bambi," she snapped sarcastically. Alec cocked an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. Faith grunted and looked away. "Sorry...just on edge."
"We all are," Alec replied. A beat passed. "To answer your earlier question...I honestly don't know exactly how immune Max is to this thing. Even if she doesn't get sick, I really doubt she'll come out of this thing unchanged. Both physically and emotionally." Faith stared at him incredulously.
"So you're basically saying we'll just have to sit on our asses, not able to do anything, and just wait to see how this turns out?" Alec shrugged but his expression was serious.
"I told you, I don't know," he replied. "But for now, that sounds more true than anything else. Until we know more..." A loud gunshot suddenly rang out, cutting Alec off and sending both him and Faith running towards the source.
They found themselves standing outside Wesley's office. A lawyer was on the ground, screaming in agony while his knee bled profusely onto the floor. A secretary was standing in the doorway, staring at Wesley in wide-eyed astonishment. Faith and Alec moved their shocked gazes to him as well.
"Jennifer, please send anyone else who isn't working on Miss Burkle's case to me," Wesley said calmly without looking up as he returned to his books. The secretary immediately rushed away.
"Holy crap, Wes," Faith muttered disgustedly. He finally looked up at them.
"Faith. Alec. Have you found anything yet?" he asked. They stared at him in disbelief.
"Nothing regarding Fred's condition..." Alec began, glancing at the lawyer on the ground, who had passed out from the pain. "But I think we just stumbled in on a homicidal maniac." Wesley just looked at him, his face completely blank.
"Want us to clear this guy out before his blood stains your carpet?" Faith bit out angrily. Wesley shook his head.
"That won't be necessary," he replied nonchalantly as he once again returned to his reading. "Someone's already on their way, I'm sure."
"We'll get back to our own research then...Nice job staying sane, Wes," Alec commented sarcastically as he and Faith left.
Buffy fidgeted uncomfortably with her seatbelt. It never mattered what car she was in, the seatbelt always seemed to cut into her neck. It was probably because of her size. Thinking that must be it, Buffy glanced over at Max to see how she was doing. Max was simply pinning the seatbelt with her right hand and using her left hand to hold the rest of it away.
When Buffy tried to do this, all she got in return was a smack to the face by the leather strap. Feeling her face heat up, she wished she had worn her hair down to cover her embarrassment. It didn't help any that she heard the other occupants of the car laughing. At least they were considerate enough to try and not laugh, but Buffy could tell at any minute they might explode.
"It's not funny," she mumbled indignantly.
"Bloody right it was," Spike laughed outright. Buffy glared at him but he ignored her. "You should've seen your face. Your eyes were so huge, cartoon characters would've been jealous."
"You're one to talk about cartoon characters," Buffy retorted lamely. Spike's chuckles quieted.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What do you want it to mean?" Spike just narrowed his eyes at her. Buffy heard Angel snicker and she turned on him. "What are you laughing about? At least he doesn't look like Elmer Fudd!"
Angel turned his head to look at her in surprise, effectively taking his eyes off the road.
"Uh...pay attention to the road, Angelface. The car coming towards us doesn't seem to think we're in the right lane," Lorne commented as a truck came at them. Angel let out a small yelp and he quickly swerved the car back into the correct lane.
"Excellent driving skills, Mr. Fudd," Spike mocked in between laughs.
"Be quiet, Spike," Max stated gently at the same time Angel ordered angrily, "Shut up, Spike." Spike stopped laughing immediately and glared at Max.
"So we're back to ordering me around again, are we?" he snapped. Max barely glanced at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Spike. I just asked you to be quiet," she replied tiredly.
"You didn't ask me, you told me," he growled.
"And you consented. Good for you," Max drawled. Spike visibly bristled.
"Okay," Buffy interrupted loudly and brightly. "How much longer 'til we get to Lindsey's?"
"About..." Angel began but stopped when Spike's voice drowned his out.
"I'm not your bloody lapdog, Max. You can't order me around. And you can't bring me closer to you just to push me away. I've been used before and there's no way in hell I'm letting myself get that low again."
Buffy's face reddened even more as she realized what he was talking about. Angel gave her a weird look. She knew he didn't like the idea of her and Spike together. Hell only knew what would happen if he found out exactly how far that relationship had gone. But Buffy would rather have the world end than give him a detailed description. She didn't want a souled vampire's death on her hands. Whether it would be Spike or Angel's was impossible to know.
"I'm not pushing you away!" Max was arguing. "There is such a thing as wanting to be alone and figure things out. Alone."
"Don't you think I know that?" Spike retorted. "But there's a difference between spending time alone for productive reasons, and shutting people out so you can have your own pity-ditty." Max's eyes blazed.
"That is not what I'm doing! I don't make a habit of pitying myself, Spike." Spike let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Is that right? And how are things on Planet Denial?" Max inhaled sharply and she and Spike began shouting over each other.
"You cruel, insensitive..."
"You lying, cheating..."
"You keep smothering me..."
"You keep shutting me out..."
"Why don't you understand..."
"Why don't you let me help you..."
"HEY!" Lorne yelled angrily. Max and Spike shut their mouths in shock. "Why don't you two save the relationship troubles for the bedroom and help us interrogate the evil lawyer so we can at least try and save Fred!"
"Okay. Sorry," Max and Spike apologized quickly. Lorne's angry face transformed into his usual smile, but it was more tired than usual.
"Then we're good to go. Angel?" Angel glanced at him blankly. "Are we there?"
"Uh, yeah. We are," he replied as he took the key out of the ignition.
Buffy expected him to have a weapon as well but when he just got out of the car and headed for the apartment building, she looked down at her axe and grimaced. "Why do I feel overdressed?"
"Bring it anyways," Angel called back to her. "Lindsey may need some extra persuasion."
"Are we even sure he's here?" Buffy asked as she and the others followed Angel into the building.
"No, but we'll find out soon enough," Spike replied.
They passed a few people on their way to an elevator. Every one of them had their eyes fixed on the group walking in. Especially Max and Buffy, because they were carrying a broad sword and an axe, and Lorne, who's obviously a demon. He gave the people staring at him a small, polite smile. But their expressions of astonishment didn't change.
"Isn't this a Wolfram & Hart apartment building?" Buffy hissed. Angel shrugged.
"Not exactly. Some of the employees stay here, but there are some regular people, too," he replied as they filed into an elevator.
"Interesting," Buffy muttered under her breath. Angel heard her anyway and glanced briefly in her direction, but didn't comment.
The rest of the ride up was eerily silent. Each person seemed to be readying themselves for confronting one of their only leads. When the elevator made a dinging noise and stopped on the correct floor, it took a few seconds for everyone to actually step out.
They reached the appropriate door and stopped short.
"So we knock or barge in?" Max asked, her voice surprisingly toneless. The others briefly cast a concerned look her way before Angel simply pulled out a key and opened the door. Buffy narrowed her eyes at him.
"Is that some special key that allows you to open any door you want?" she questioned heatedly as she pushed ahead of him into the apartment. Angel seemed to grit his teeth for about a millisecond before he shook it off.
"No, it just goes to Lindsey's," he replied tersely as he stepped in after her.
"Uh, Angel?" Spike asked from behind him.
"What?"
"How is it that we're able to enter this place when Lindsey's supposedly human?" Angel whirled around, mild surprise shown on his face.
"I didn't think of that...But he invited me in a few years ago. I don't know how you..." he began. Spike let out a wry laugh.
"Maybe he's farther off the evolutionary scale than we thought..."
"Or maybe he just doesn't call this place 'home' anymore," Lorne suggested.
"Let's just keep searching the place. If Lindsey's not here, then at least look for plans." Angel replied. He turned back around and realized Buffy and Max were gone. "Where'd..."
"Hey guys! You gotta come see this!" Buffy's voice rang out. Angel exchanged a look with the others and followed the direction of her voice into the bedroom.
He smiled grimly when he saw who was in the bed. "Well, I'll be damned all over again."
Eve pulled the sheets tighter around her body and recoiled towards the headboard.
"Stay away from me," she ordered weakly.
Max cocked her head to the side and fixed Eve with a feral grin on her face. The effect caused Eve to shudder.
"Hiding from the senior partners, Eve?" Angel questioned as he noticed the familiar symbols on the walls.
"What do you want from me?"
"Fred's dying," Angel explained. "From some mystical parasite that was stashed in a sarcophagus. Sound familiar to you?" Eve shook her head rapidly. Max took a threatening step toward her, her grip on the sword so tight, her knuckles were turning white. Eve audibly gulped.
"What about your boyfriend?" Spike asked, walking closer to the bed as well, but he wasn't as hostile as Max.
"Stay away from me," Eve ordered again. Max's expression seemed to get impossibly more threatening. "Lindsey and I didn't do anything with a sarcophagus," she added quickly. "I-I'm not lying. Why would we go after Fred? Why would we..."
"Okay," Lorne interrupted. "You're going to sing for me and then I'll decide if you had anything to do with Fred's sickness. And if I hear even one note that shows that you did, no one, not even the little firecracker over there." He nodded towards Max. "Will have the time to kill you."
"Speak for yourself," Max growled.
"Uh...Pretty girl on every corner. Sunshine turns the sky to gold," Eve sang quickly.
"She's clean," Lorne stated.
"You sure?" Angel asked. Lorne nodded solemnly.
"She had nothing to do with Fred getting ill. Her future's not looking too good, though..." he trailed off and gave Eve a pointed look. Her eyes widened.
"W-What do you mean? What happens?"
"Pick a number," Max replied. "And see how lucky you get." Eve stared at her in horrified confusion.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Max just gave her a predatory grin.
"Well, this has been fun," Buffy commented sarcastically. "But we gotta get back, don't we?" They all turned to go except Max.
"W-Wait! You're not gonna tell um...anyone? Where I am, I mean?" Eve sat up straighter in the bed, ready to beg if need be.
"Might be a nice trade, don't ya think?" Buffy replied. Max smirked and nodded.
"The senior partners won't be able to help you," Eve added quickly as they turned to leave again.
"How do you know?" Angel questioned suspiciously.
"Because you obviously haven't found anything about the sarcophagus in our records, right? Or you wouldn't have come here. There's absolutely nothing that's not in our records except for the old ones. The original demons that were still alive were driven out of this dimension. But before that, it wasn't uncommon for them to be killing each other. And they don't die the same way we humans do."
"Pretty bold statement. Calling yourself a human," Angel commented. Eve fidgeted uncomfortably but continued explaining.
"Your people probably don't realize that the books you guys have can conjure up documents from other stocks as well as our own. Tell Wesley and whoever else is working on it to look for the oldest scrolls. You need to find the Deeper Well."
They turned to go without a word of acknowledgment or thanks. Eve stared at their retreating backs with a forlorn look on her face.
"So you're not telling anyone, right?" she called out. The only response she received was the sound of a door shutting.
Angel pulled out his cell phone as he and the others walked out of the apartment building and towards his car. He punched in a few numbers and held it to his ear. A beat passed before a weary voice answered.
"Wes? It's me."
"Did you find Lindsey?" Wesley asked, his weary voice becoming considerably eager. Angel winced.
"No. But we found Eve," Angel began.
"Eve? Did she have a hand in any of this?"
"No. Lorne read her. She's clean. But she told us to look for the oldest scrolls in our source books. And found out what the Deeper Well is."
"The Deeper Well? Can't say I've heard of it...We'll get right on it."
"Thanks. We'll be there soon." Angel flipped his phone closed and pocketed it, exchanging it for his keys.
"Uh...is it okay if we stop by the hotel? I told Dawn we'd bring her back when we were done at Lindsey's," Buffy said. Angel blinked.
"You want to bring Dawn into this?" he asked, carefully keeping his voice even.
"She's a big girl. And she'd only be helping with research. That was her special job back in Slayer Central," Buffy explained. Angel glanced at Max, as if he wanted confirmation on this, but Max had a blank, faraway expression on her face.
"Fine, let's just go so we can get back to Wolfram & Hart," he stated as they all piled into the car.
"So what do we know?" Angel asked once everyone was gathered in Wesley's office. Wesley took a deep breath before beginning.
"It's name is Illyria," he explained. "It was a great monarch and warrior in its time, but was killed by rivals and buried in the Deeper Well."
"Which is...?" Buffy prodded.
"A resting place for the remaining old ones. But this one doesn't seem to be resting. And it doesn't seem to be a regular infection. Fred's skin is becoming as hard and stiff as a shell. I think she's being...emptied. Emptied so this thing can use her as its own body and claw its way back into this world. Whatever way...she dies."
"Do you know where this Deeper Well is?" Angel asked.
"England. In the Cotswolds," Faith replied. Angel turned to Lorne.
"Tell Harmony to get the jet ready. I want to get there as soon as we can."
"It'll probably have a few people guarding it," Alec commented.
"Not a problem," Buffy stated firmly.
"I take it you're coming with me?" Angel questioned. Buffy just gave him a look. He turned to the others. "Alright, you guys keep working here and Buffy and I will check out this Well."
"Sounds like a plan. Let's get cracking," Faith replied, giving Buffy a pointed look, which she ignored as she and Angel quickly left the room.
"Holy crap!" was Buffy's first reaction as they walked into the private jet. Angel chuckled softly.
"Guess being CEO of an evil corporation has its perks, huh?" he joked as they took in the well-lit room, which contained white leather seats and sofas. Buffy briefly glanced at him as she buckled herself in.
"Maybe," she muttered. Angel heard her anyways and gave her a look of surprise.
"Wait. You're actually admitting it?" Buffy fingered her seatbelt uncomfortably.
"It's just a nice jet. Doesn't mean I agree with you making deals with the devil," she retorted. Angel rolled his eyes as he buckled himself into the seat across the aisle from hers. A soft rumbling could be heard before the jet took off. Angel gripped the armrests. Buffy looked over at him with an amused look on her face.
"You've flown before, right?" she asked. Angel let out a soft, nervous laugh.
"I've been in a helicopter," he replied as he looked worriedly out the window. "But they don't um...go this high." After a minute he looked back over at Buffy, who was trying not to laugh. "What?"
"I never knew you were afraid of heights," Buffy replied, smiling softly.
"I'm not," Angel stated indignantly. Off Buffy's knowing look he added, "Maybe a little..."
"Wow. It's amazing. We're dealing with a very life-threatening situation and somehow I manage to find out something new about you," Buffy joked dryly. Angel winced.
"Sorry." Buffy sighed.
"I'm sorry, too," she began. "But I feel like I still need an explanation for what happened." Angel groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I don't even know how to..." he muttered.
"Then let me," Buffy replied. "I got too pushy and you snapped. It's not like our tempers were being held in check. We were puppets for god's sake." Angel sighed heavily.
"Buffy...it wasn't just..."
"I know it wasn't just my fault. I may not know you as well anymore, but that means the same for you regarding me. A fact which you seemed to ignore during that argument. I know it must have been hard for you...whatever has happened to you in the past 5 years-something I'd like to know about by the way-but you have to understand...I died." Angel inhaled sharply. "And it wasn't like before with the drowning and Xander reviving me. It was a real rotting, stuck in a coffin, buried six feet under kinda dead. You went through it like 250 years ago, but you came back as an evil vampire. I was still me. Human." Angel stared at her, sympathy and concern shown on his face. "Plus, I'dbeen in heaven for about three months while you were only underground for a night. And I only came back 'cause my friends performed a spell and ripped me out of there."
"You got through it though," Angel stated softly. Buffy let out a short, bitter laugh.
"Yeah. I got through it," she mumbled, purposefully looking away from him. Angel's brow furrowed but he didn't pressure her to explain further. Buffy suddenly faced him again, her expression transformed from sad and bitter to open and curious. "So. I told you one of mine. Time to share one of yours."
"Don't get mad at me for saying this, but...as painful as it is to die, it's pretty much just as worse to be the one still living."
"Why would I get mad at you for saying that? I know how that feels, too. I killed you, remember? Didn't do too well with the grief-handling, either." Angel flinched but nodded his head.
"Yeah. I remember," he replied. "But what I'm trying to say is...I've met and lost more people than you have. I've been the reason for some of them dying, sure...but that's not the point. My first year in LA, I met Doyle. He was half-demon and got visions from the Powers That Be. He was myconduit to them. Even though I only knew him for about two months, he was one of the closest friends I'd ever had. And even though he died like a hero, it didn't dull any of the pain left from his leaving."
"And I take it that's just one of the many losses in your two and a half century life, right?" Buffy commented. Angel nodded and locked eyes with her.
"Yes. It is."
"So what are we here for, again?" Alec asked as he, Faith, Max, Spike, and Dawn joined Gunn and Knox in the science lab.
"We're gonna see if we can freeze Fred," Gunn replied as Knox continued to examine something through a microscope. Spike cocked an eyebrow in surprise.
"And what purpose will this serve? Besides sounding extremely futuristic and Austin Powers-esque?"
"We'll see if we can freeze this thing to stop it from killing Fred until we figure out a way to completely destroy it," Knox explained without looking up from the microscope.
"Right."
Max wandered over to the sarcophagus and slowly ran her hand across the surface. To the others in the room she seemed to be simply examining it, but Max felt a peculiar humming go through her body as soon as her hand touched it.
"Dammit!" Knox suddenly cried out as he sat back from the microscope.
"No, no 'dammit'. This is one of our very few legitimate leads. Don't say..." Gunn began desperately. But Knox shook his head.
"They're immune to the cold. The blood tissue freezes, but they don't seem to be even remotely bothered by it. They keep working away. I'm sorry."
"What else can we do?" Faith questioned. Knox sighed heavily as he took off his work gloves.
"I-I don't know. I don't know if we can do anything more."
"What are you getting at?" Spike asked.
"Look. Nothing would make me happier to play the White Knight to Fred's damsel in distress...But..." Knox sighed again. "I don't just care about Fred, I practically worship it." Everyone suddenly stared at him quizzically. "What?"
"You said 'it'. You said you worship 'it', not 'her'," Alec stated, his voice becoming hard. The others' expressions followed suit as they all watched Knox with distrust.
"Oops," Knox said. His smile seemed almost sheepish. Gunn grabbed him by the lapels and slammed him into a lab desk. The sound of glass breaking was ignored by everyone.
"You did this...You did all of this!" Gunn accused.
"Not exactly. I just played my part," Knox replied, his smile turning into a smug smirk.
"Why?" Dawn asked, her voice shaking with barely contained rage. "Why would you do that to someone you claim to love so much? You say you worship her and yet you've been the cause for her dying?"
"Were you just jealous that she chose Wes over you?" Faith spat. Knox pushed Gunn off of him and backed away from them.
"No. I meant what I said about Fred. I love her and that's why she was chosen. Why would I have my god hatch out of some unworthy jackass?" They stared at him, horrified.
"What about Max?" Spike asked, glancing over at her as she continuedlooking at the sarcophagus. "What part does she have in this?" Knox shook his head, the first sign of frustration showing on his face.
"Nothing. She wasn't supposed to be there. But I guess luck won out since she's shown no sign of being affected. This was all put together millions of years ago and there's no way to stop it."
"Buffy and Angel," Max stated softly, her back facing the others.
"They're pretty close to figuring it out, but it won't matter. They won't be able to save her."
"If you're even able to say that and not choke on the words...Then you obviously don't know them very well," Dawn bit out angrily. Knox shook his head again and that annoying smirk was back on his face.
"You don't get it. I'm not saying they're gonna fail saving her. I'm saying they're gonna let Fred die."
"You sure this Well is supposed to be here?" Buffy whispered as she and Angel walked through a grove of trees in the foggy moonlight. Angel nodded and pointed to a particularlylarge tree.
"I'll take a wild guess and say that's the entrance to the Deeper Well."
"Good call," Buffy muttered as armored men wielding swords rushed out of the tree in a flash of light. She dropped into a fighting stance. "Got any bright ideas?"
"Hold my hand." Buffy cocked an amused eyebrow at him.
"Come on, Angel. You're a big boy. And I don't think now's the time for petty comfort. You'll have to just face up..."
"Just do it," he demanded softly. Buffy blew out a sigh and grabbed his hand.
"Oh, now I get it," she said with a grin as they let go of each other's hands and dropped a length of wire between them. As the armored creatures approached, she and Angel stepped apart and pulled the wire taut. The demons ran into it and were rewarded by getting their heads cut off. "This is a tactic I'll have to remember in the future."
"Thought you'd like it," Angel commented as they took the swords from the demons and used them to fight off the next group coming toward them. The creatures turned out to be fairly easy to defeat and before long, Buffy and Angel killed the final two.
"Well that was...simple," Buffy stated as she looked around for any more foes. A man suddenly appeared at the tree gateway and walked toward Angel. Buffy tensed for another fight but Angel visibly relaxed.
"Drogyn," he greeted. Drogyn nodded in response. "You're the keeper of the well."
"For quite a while now."
"Who the hell..." Buffy began but Drogyn suddenly got in her face.
"Do not ask me a question," he ordered angrily. "If you do, I will kill you. Don't think that I can't." Buffy glared at him.
"Back off rag-boy. Nobody orders me around like that without some sort of explanation. Questions apparently aren't your thing. Whatever. If you don't want me to ask you a question, then you better just tell me every damn thing you know," she snarled. Drogyn stared at her for a moment, impassive.
"You're here about Illyria," he finally stated with a small smile.
"Yes."
"Walk in," he said, gesturing towards the tree.
"Well-keepers first," Buffy taunted. Drogyn gave a slight nod of his head and walked towards the tree.
"Way to make a first impression," Angel commented, smirking as he and Buffy followed him. Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Why's he get all wiggy about questions?"
"He can't lie."
Drogyn led the way into the Deeper Well holding a torch and Buffy and Angel followed the firelight. Both of them became more impatient with each step.
"So while you're guiding the way, start doing that explaining thing I yelled at you about," Buffy finally said.
"I'll tell you as much as I can," Drogyn replied. "Illyria was one of the many old ones that fought as often as we breathe. It was beloved and feared. It was laid to death here...until it disappeared a month ago."
"You didn't used to be so easy to steal from," Angel commented wryly.
"I didn't say it was stolen," Drogyn snapped. "I said it disappeared. I believe that Illyria's escape has long been planned. And my charges are not few." He extinguished his torch as they entered another chamber.
When Angel and Buffy followed him in, they found themselves standing on a bridge. They cautiously looked over the edge and gasped at the sight of an endless pit lined with thousands of coffins, just like the sarcophagus sent to Wolfram & Hart.
"Holy crap..." Buffy breathed.
"It goes down all the way through the Earth," Drogyn stated.
"So when the coffin disappeared, it was actually just being sent to us," Angel said.
"Illyria was a great power. So great that even after millions of years of being dead, there are still loyal followers."
"How many of you idiotic freakshows are there?" Faith growled as a grinning and excited Knox continued to back away from the infuriated group closed in on him.
"Very few. I came to LA because I'd heard that's where Illyria's kingdom used to be. It was supposed to teleport, but natural world changes interrupted the process. I had others help me get it here, but it got stuck in Customs." Gunn suddenly froze up as Knox turned to him, still grinning. "But you took care of that, Charles." The others turned to face him as well.
"What is he talking about?" Alec asked.
"I-I don't...n-nothing," Gunn lied. Knox laughed.
"He signed the order to bring it into the lab," he explained. "He needed another lawyer fix-up." Gunn stumbled backwards, disgusted.
"Angel and Buffy will save her," Dawn stated firmly as she and the others tried to get over the shock of their newly gained information. Knox laughed again.
"What they're fighting is older than the concept of time. All there's left to do is wait. Wait and..." He was cut off by Gunn swinging a metal canister at his head, knocking him out cold. He was about to hit him again when a loud shriek stopped his progress and caused him and the others to whirl around.
"Max..." Spike began in bewilderment.
Max was hunched over and convulsing. She suddenly collapsed to the ground but continued to shake. Both of her legs connected with the sarcophagus and sent it sailing across the room. It crashed into a wall of lab equipment. Anything that was glass shattered and everything else crumbled in defeat. But the sarcophagus remained surprisingly intact.
Spike was the first to come out of his paralyzing astonishment and rushed over to her.
"W-What's h-happening to m-me?" she asked softly as Spike slipped an arm behind her head. He was at a lost for words. "I-It doesn't hurt b-but s-something's invading..."Her head suddenly snapped back as her eyes became pitch black. A wall of energy catapulted Spike and the others across the room.
Wesley was sitting on Fred's bed, holding her in his arms as her body went limp. The tears that were prickling his eyes finally cascaded down his cheeks.
"Please..." he rasped as he hugged Fred closer to his body. "Please..."
Fred's open brown eyes suddenly turned a crystal blue. She began twitching and kicked her body away from Wesley so hard that it sent him across the room and pushed her to the floor. As soon as her body hit the ground,she began to convulse even more intensely as Wesley watched in horror.
Finally Fred stood up, but her hair, eyes, and the edges of her face were royal blue. She looked down at her arm and hand, flexing her fingers. When she spoke, her voice was deep and even.
"This will do."
A/N-And Illyria is born again...hehe. Thanks to all who responded to my A/N in the last chapter and reviewed. It helped me a lot and reminded mehow much people enjoy this story ;o)
LadyV77-Surprise, surprise! She wasn't as immune as she thought she was...hehe. It'll be explained more efficiently in the next couple of chapters. I loved Fred too but I wanted Illyria in the story also. They'll be a few extra twists though...
mel11-Thanks ;o) It doesn't matter if a review is good or not, they're all greatly appreciated :o)
XP-I know what I'm doing is not entirely original, but I still am adding my own twists to the story so it's not like I'm copying the exact same storyline. If you don't like how I'm writing then please give me more of a suggestion than just 'be original'. Thanks :o)
Delauro-Thanks ;o) I'll try to update sooner.
Sky Angel-Thanks ;o) I was worried it might come off too dramatic but it means a lot that you liked it :o)
meri24-I hope you had a good holiday ;o) I'm glad you liked the bonding bits. I'm really sorry but Illyria's gonna be in the story now...unless I suck at writing her, then I'll figure out a way to bring Fred back :o)
Sarah-Thanks ;o) It's always greatly appreciated when someone reviews and I'm very glad you're enjoying the story.
Volleyball-Setter-Thanks ;o) I'll do that.
screaminheathen69-Thanks ;o) They'll eventually get to scratching but there's still some drama-rama to deal with...
