Disclaimer: I own nothing present (Locations, Characters, etc.) in the following story, I intend to make no profit from it. Please don't sue me, there is nothing to get anyway.
Spoilers: Buffy the Vampire Slayer thru Season 7, Angel the Series thru Season 5
Author's note: As with all of my stories, suggestions about future plot development's are welcome and wanted, Reviews of any kind are neat as well.
To Hell with the World
Chapter 7: Illyria Appears and the World Trembles
What Spike and Angel saw and fought at Wolfram & Hart's private airfield, was just an example of what was happening in the rest of the of world.
The airfield was named for one of the firm's most influential and highly regarded executives, Holland Manners. He would have been appalled at the destruction one of his successors had unleashed on the world, and delighted that it turned out to be Angel and his group.
That his speech to Angel had turned out to be prophetic and apt 'Yes, the apocalypse, of course. - Another one of those. Well, it's true. We do have one scheduled. And I imagine if you were to prevent it you would save a great many people. Well, you should do that then. Absolutely. I wasn't thinking. - Of course all those people you save from that apocalypse would then have the next one to look forward to, but, hey, it's always something, isn't it?'
That Angel would one day work for the firm he once hated, and while he was there, be forced to start an apocalypse, in fact something far worse than the Senior Partners had ever planned.
Illyria was an Old One, the purest of demons, born to conquer. The God-king was, if nothing else, a warrior. When the plans had been set forth for Illyria's resurrection, the Old One was aware of the counter that might be used to drag it back to the Deeper Well.
Illyria couldn't consider that anyone would actually use it. Being the utterly selfish demon it was. But on the off-chance that they did use it, Illyria would not be content to simply kill random large numbers of people. Illyria had a much grander goal in mind.
The counter would be made ineffective. Illyria's essence would go airborne as Drogyn said, but instead of just killing those it infected, Illyria would turn them into carriers with the simple and primal instruction 'Consume.' Once the world had been filled with those carrying Illyria, there would be enough of its essence to make the God-king's true form. Illyria would rise.
In this case everyone was wrong in some way.
Cordelia was mistaken about the scope and nature of the disaster, some thousands of dead bodies, instead it turned out to be millions of undead bodies.
Drogyn was wrong in that he thought that Illyria's essence would travel only between where it was and the entrance to the Deeper Well he guarded. In reality the mist containing Illyria, that was pulled out of Fred, traveled to both entrances, the one in England and in New Zealand. The entire globe was touched by Illyria. As the essence traveled in all directions, and was pulled towards the nearest entrance when it got close enough. The mist went out on all points of the compass, such as the part that traveled straight north. It went through California, as well as Oregon and Washington, British Columbia and Alberta in Canada were next. It continued over the Arctic and slammed into Russia, parts of Central Asia and Iran before being drawn sharply west over the tip of India and Australia to New Zealand.
Illyria was wrong as well, never thinking that humans would come to dominate the planet, how could those insects overcome the many races of demons, not to mention Illyria's own kind. Because of this miscalculation, Illyria's vessels would be made up of humans. If a race of demons had dominance, Illyria would have been better served. Illyria's infection only targeted the largest group of beings on earth.
As Illyria was drawn back to the Well, something truly remarkable happened. Illyria targeted dying flesh, those with terminal diseases, the aged, and those who happened to be near-death at the time. One doctor who survived, later called it a 'terrifying miracle.' Illyria wiped away anything that was in competition with it's own power. Some diseases were wiped out completely, no longer a threat to humanity. Infirmities were removed, and fatal wounds were healed.
The worldwide miracle lasted about half an hour. After that, the horror began. It was a cruel irony that the cure for many of the worst diseases was one that was far more deadly.
In hospital's and homes, those who had so recently been restored to health, were struck as if they had been shot and were knocked down or out of their seat or bed, by the time they had recovered and stood up, they had changed.
Like Angel and Spike had seen, the skin and eyes of those infected were criss-crossed by cobalt-blue lines. What family members heard before they were attacked was a growl if they were close, and a deep rumbling moan if they were far away.
The zombies, for that is the best description for them, started to follow their instruction. They attempted to consume those who were around them, doctor's, nurses, and entire families soon joined the ranks of Illyria's rapidly forming horde.
For the four member's of Wolfram & Hart's relatively new management, this was a problem that was still distant, although there were a few humans in the building who had already succumbed to Illyria.
Most were in offices behind closed doors, and were thus trapped for the time being. There was one young man in the secretarial pool that had an aggressive form of cancer and was a perfect target, his place meant that he had access to many victims that were very close by, some who didn't know they were in danger until their co-workers descended on them, headphones, music, and a total focus on one's work could be very dangerous after all.
Again though Wesley, Fred, Gunn and Lorne were unaware of all of this as they were still dealing with various things. Lorne was trying to process what Fred had shown him. Gunn was still feeling relieved that his deal with the evil doctor hadn't led to Fred's death. Wesley was wondering when the Illyria problem, that Gunn had called about, would really make itself known. And Fred had some unfinished business to deal with.
Fred's concern had her moving before anyone else, she casually mentioned she had to go to medical, to make sure she was alright. She was walking away from the group when Wesley had the intense desire that she not go anywhere alone. He moved after her, grabbed her, and spun her around into a kiss that she melted into. When he stopped Fred looked at him breathlessly "What was that for?"
They were still close together, Wesley brushed some hair away from her face "It's the first time, and I'm not sure I'm ready yet." he said quietly, and she knew what he meant, that since she had escaped death they had not been apart. With that she walked away, feeling better about what she was about to do.
Observing this romantic display Gunn whispered to Lorne "I was never like that with her, right?"
Lorne replied with an honest smile "Oh sugar-plum, you were worse, but don't worry, your rep's still good."
As Lorne walked off he overheard Gunn say "It better be, I'm not cute, or cuddly, and I've got it all, brains, brawn, and everything else."
Lorne smiled at that and caught up to Wesley, who was heading to where Knox was being watched over by Harmony. Lorne fell into step, and they walked and talked "Wes, how much did Fred tell you?"
"About what?" Wesley was thinking what he would say to Knox and how he was going to keep from applying various medieval torture techniques on the scientist.
Lorne was trying to figure out if he should tell Wesley what Fred hadn't needed to see when she made her choice, but decided against it "About what miss Higher Power showed her. Hey, butterscotch, now I said earlier you shouldn't beat yourself over taking the chance you did. One little thing though, and Fred has first dibs, but she saved a lot more than herself when she made the big decision."
"I know, and at the same time, I have no idea. She said she saw what happened to the rest of us if she had chosen to die, she said I started a long and serious relationship with 12-year old scotch. It's not without precedent, I did it before, after I lost Connor." Wesley stopped, wondering what the empathic demon's response would be, he was not disappointed.
Lorne offered the confused "Who?" that Wesley expected.
"Never mind" Wesley said as he ran a hand down his face in frustration, he had the same thought as Cordelia had earlier, though with slight differences 'Angel and that idiotic mind-wipe, we'll have to break that, and soon.' but to Lorne he said "Ask Angel when he gets back, now, I need a favor, I want you to call me when he returns, can you do that for me?"
Lorne wondered what the deal was, there were things he couldn't see when Fred sang for him, maybe this Connor person had something to do with it "Sure, I'll go wait in the lobby, I think Gunn is staying there anyway, said he was keeping watch, whatever that means."
"Thanks, and you should ask Gunn about it, he already told me what he knows, it might be important, I wish I had the time to explain, but Fred asked me to do something, so go I must." Wesley walked away while Lorne turned and went back to the lobby.
! #$%^&*()
Dr. Moran was having a dull shift, in fact, the previous one had only had a single patient, Ms. Burkle, poor girl had a nasty infection, and during the pass down Dr. Moran was told that Fred had been whisked out of the medical wing by that doting Mr. Wyndam-Pryce. What a strange man, if the girl was sick, wouldn't she be better off staying where she could be tended to by professionals?
Moran wasn't her last name, it was a clan name, she was a demon. She could pass for human well enough, the only issue was her eyes, they were unnaturally silver, but were usually covered by green contacts that matched well with her red hair. She was rather tall, being just under six-feet in height.
She and her clan had the wonderful gift to see abnormal things in most anyone, physical or mental. They set up in L.A. and made a killing being fortune tellers. Christina, that was the human name she had picked, her demon name sounded out of place and was rather long, sought to do something more, and had went to medical school. She was excellent at diagnostics because of her ability.
Her future was bright until Wolfram & Hart had found out about her. They made her a job offer. She didn't dare say no, as the law firm was known for forcing prospective employee's to join. In the case of demons such as her, having the rest of her clan wiped out was the usual response to a rejection. So here she was, working for Wolfram & Hart.
Her dull day got more interesting when one of her new bosses entered. Dr. Moran took a moment to study Fred. There didn't seem to be any trace of the infection in her, no tell-tale mystical signature that was indicated in the chart. It was odd, her immune system seemed to have been boosted, the cells involved in immune response had a weird bluish-gold glow around them.
Fred looked at the medical wing, it seemed like perfectly normal hospital ward, and not the place where she had memories of herself and her boys, the pain, and when she had moved unsteadily down the hallway to 'work the problem' even though she kept having to use the wall to keep from falling over, her muscles and tendons having started losing their cohesion and mass.
"Ms. Burkle? You're looking better, you were in trouble when you left us." Dr. Moran had walked up to her.
Fred retreated from her memories, there would be time enough later to deal with them "Yeah, I guess I was, I got better though, I need some help?"
"Anything you want, I'm happy to help." Moran didn't know what to make of the new bosses, they said they were different, but how could a vampire really be better than an evil human, he did seem loyal to his friends, but that was true of the favorites of almost every executive at the firm.
Fred was hoping the helpful doctor would stick around, especially after what she was going to ask of her. "I want to figure out what it was that infected me, I know it wasn't something we made but I was wondering if there was something similar, I'd like to do a comparison, maybe see if I can narrow down what it was."
"Alright, I have your chart, did any new symptoms appear after you left?" The doctor hoped not, the original symptoms were terrible all on their own. Multiple instances of internal bleeding, organs breaking down and melting, and skin beginning to harden at various points.
Fred thought back, aware of what happened, what she still remembered, and probably would never forget was the pain that happened right before she died, as the last of her blood vessel's popped open and her lungs finally stopped working as they dissolved. "Nope nothing new, it just got a bunch worse, do we have anything that can do the same things?"
"Actually, we do, give me a few minutes, I'll prepare a standard test tray for you, are you going to be doing humanoid testing?" It wasn't any kind of accusation, it was normal procedure at the firm, it would be surprising indeed if Ms. Burkle was going to confine herself to animal testing.
Fred fidgeted, she was unsure how to answer, she knew some of the possible differences if she said no "Yes, but I am just going to be using a small group, I don't need much."
"Don't be so nervous, people ask me for stuff like this all the time, I had to ask to make sure I'm giving you the right introduction methods, with humans and demons, you'll want injections, with animals, especially small ones, you might need to use an aerosol form in a container. It's all perfectly safe, well not for subjects, but you get the point. I'll be right back." Dr. Moran was partially relieved, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Fred was thinking about what and why Wolfram & Hart would have something that mimicked what killed her, and now with her memories restored, she wondered at Angel, he was so far removed from the handsome prince who had come to save her.
She was tempted to curse her insecure and insane mentor, who thought sending students to unknown dimensions was the right way to snuff out talent and academic competition. Though, if her life had been normal, she would have never met all of them, Angel, Cordy, Charles, Connor, and finally Wesley.
And her thoughts lingered for a moment on that last name 'Wesley' now that she knew what his feelings and motivations were, his actions made all the more sense. That he had understood her post-Pylea craziness, and even sought her help in the most pressing situations, like when Cordelia had those visions that nearly killed her.
The one action that had stumped her at the time, why Wesley took Connor, she still hadn't figured out, but Cordy had mentioned it involved her in some way. Again she reflected on her pivotal role, especially with Wesley, that he would risk everything by taking Connor, destroying friendships, breaking up a father and son, Wesley would fill in the blanks, the very important 'why' with that whole situation, eventually.
Fred was brought out of her thoughts by the understanding doctor returning with a small tray of vials and syringes. There were ten vials of red liquid, and ten syringes each of a blue and black liquid and a clear injection, the doctor clarified what each set of ten was "Ms. Burkle, okay, so we have the samples of your blood we took earlier, and this dark stuff here is what you were asking after, and lastly we have various concentrations of opiates, some for pain relief if you don't want your subjects to die from shock, and some for finally ending the test, that is if you don't want the subject to suffer, but it's your call."
"What would we usually use something like that for?" Fred gestured to the middle row of syringes.
Dr. Moran was interested, it seemed like such an an odd question, surely Ms. Burkle understood the nature of Wolfram & Hart, but on the off chance she didn't, the doctor answered with a smile "Well, we don't have much call for this, it's quite lethal, but it does have one use beyond that, if there is a ritual that requires the larger than normal amount of bloodletting, this will get the job done. Be careful with it, I don't want to see you back in here."
"Well, I'm not thrilled about what would drop me back in here either, do you have something to carry it in? I don't want to be walking around with something like that in the open." Fred was becoming more relaxed, she didn't realize it would be this easy.
The doctor looked exasperated, again with the odd and naïvety, she gave Fred a standard carrying case that was designed to keep its dangerous cargo unbroken. With a release of nervousness Fred gave Dr. Moran a thank you, and then Fred left the medical wing.
She was almost knocked over by a young, terrified woman running past her, Fred recognized her from when she went to the bar with Harmony that one time. The woman was clutching small wound on her arm, it should have bled but it had already stopped. Dr. Moran's shift was about to get very exciting.
! #$%^&*()
Wesley had relieved Harmony, who was on Knox watch, he told the blonde vampire to go and wait in the lobby with Lorne and Gunn. After she had left, Wesley had shut the door, leaving him and Knox alone.
Wesley was mindful of Fred's earlier warning to leave Knox unharmed, at least he wasn't supposed to add anything, Gunn had apparently hurt the boyish scientist already. Knox asked Wesley about what was going on, he even made the effort to ask how Fred was doing, playing the part of a concerned friend and co-worker to the hilt. Wesley hadn't trusted himself to respond with more than a curt "She's fine"
Wesley wasn't the sort who did things rashly or out of anger, but when it came to Fred, he didn't know what sort he was, or frankly, what he would do. Wesley didn't want to have a chat with the man who had tried to destroy Fred. So they sat in a tense silence.
Knox was getting worried, if Fred was 'fine' as Wesley said, than what did that mean for Illyria? Where was the great one, the most divine. Did these self-proclaimed heroes actually make the selfish choice and sacrifice. Did that mean that all of his long years of research and worship were all for nothing?
Knox and Wesley both jumped when Fred came into the room. Wesley was relieved and stood up to greet her. Now Knox was really quite mystified, if Illyria had been reborn as planned, Fred should already be gone, her body used to greater purpose.
Fred spoke quietly "Wes, can you leave us alone for a bit, and make sure nobody else comes in?"
"Certainly, don't dawdle though, I want this finished. I don't know what you have planned. I will stand by any decision you make however." Wesley glanced at the box Fred was carrying.
Fred stepped to the side and nodded and jerked her head as if to say 'I know, now get going.' Wesley got hint and left.
Fred turned to her tied up assistant "Hey Knoxy, Charles was rough with ya, sorry about that."
"Fred, I'm so glad you're okay, that stuff you had was resistant to everything we tried. How'd you cure it?" Knox was still hopeful, maybe Gunn had kept his mouth shut about his little part in all of this. If that were so, Knox could go back to work and try and find another way to bring Illyria back into the world.
Fred stared incredulously at the concerned look on Knox's face, this bastard had actually asked if she was okay, like he hadn't just tried to destroy her body and banish her soul. "It was Wesley, and an old friend. She let me see some future events, I know about you and Illyria, Knox."
"Where is she, she was supposed to be here, you were supposed to give her a suitable container, it was going to be such an honor to have her take you, Fred, you'd be a beautiful martyr, your sacrifice would be remembered, I'd have made sure." Fred saw that Knox's eyes were pricked with tears, she felt a small twinge of sympathy, here was somebody who had spent his entire life in the pursuit of one thing, only to see it snatched away at the last moment.
However, that did not mean she was going to change her mind. Knox had just admitted his plans for her. "Illyria's gone, back to the Deeper Well." Knox hung his head at these words but he heard what she said next "You loved her, didn't you?" Knox sniffled and nodded "I can understand that, that kinda love is great, we should all be so lucky to have it."
Knox didn't respond, he just kept grieving over the loss of Illyria.
Fred said in the silence "Oh Knoxy, I'm so sorry, did mean ol' Gunn hurt ya?" at his small nod she went on "well don't worry, nothing like that will happen again."
Knox was relieved, It looked like Fred wasn't mad at him, maybe with her on his side, he could convince the rest of them, and he could salvage what was left of his life, he was thinking about what he would do if he got out of this alive, his eyes were still closed. He didn't see or feel the needle that plunged into his arm, he would have jerked away if he could. "What the hell was that!"
"Oh, oops, guess I shoulda warned ya, you know the way you did for me with Illyria, but wait, you didn't. Besides, that first one is just supposed to make ya feel good, the same way I felt right before." Fred remembered the sudden onset of the infection, one moment she was singing and smiling with Wesley and in the next she was resting in a hospital bed with everyone standing around looking worried, and the sensation of something slithering inside her, eating her away, piece-by-piece.
Fred put down the syringe, while Knox began to feel the effects, he was happy and didn't really care that Fred had grabbed another, this one filled with the darker liquid. Knox barely felt the needle as it went into his other arm. And he heard but didn't understand what Fred said next "When the Fentanyl wears off, you'll feel what I felt, you will know what it's like to be hollowed out, to be nothing more than a body in the way. I'm not sure what I'm going to do next, after this it would be humane to help you die, than the pain and fear would stop, I'll think about it, Knoxy, maybe you can tell me when the time comes."
Fred looked at Knox, who had a drug-induced glazed stare and smile, and turned, grabbed the box, and left the room.
Wesley was waiting outside. He questioned "Well, is it done?"
"Not yet, give it two hours and it will be, one way or the other, once we tell Angel what he did, we'll see what happens." Fred was relieved it was over with, she didn't think it would be that easy, but it helped that she could empathize with Knox in a sense, it gave her a way to get close. She thought she would be hopping mad at him, but as it turned out Knox was a pitiable little man.
At that point the P.A. system in the building announced
Charles Gunn, Report to the White Room immediately
and the message repeated two more times.
! #$%^&*()
In the lobby, Gunn was surprised, usually there was no call to come to the White Room, it's existence was not usually made known. Gunn headed towards the elevators as Angel and Spike walked in from the parking garage.
Wesley and Fred had entered the lobby at the same time. Both vampires took a moment to look at Fred, their adventure in England was all about her. She seemed perfectly fine. They had no idea yet what she went through.
Nor would they have time to talk about it right then as the building went into lockdown, it resembled what had happened when the Beast had shown up the previous year. And the P.A. System again blared to life
Warning! Unknown demonic activity in the secretarial lounge and work area, casualties reported, security, deploy to the area, weapons free. Destroy on sight.
Angel and Spike had the same thought, but Spike spoke first "Don't suppose it's the same thing, maybe it's some other big and nasty?"
"Have we ever been that lucky? Wes, Fred," Angel smiled at her, reminding himself that, while he may have been forced to start an apocalypse, it was worth it. "Grab some weapons and lock yourself in one of your offices, we'll come and get you when this is over."
Angel turned to the others "Harmony, Lorne stay here, and Harm, if anybody with blue lines all over'em breaks in here, rip their heads off. Lorne don't let them near you. Spike, come on, let's go, security doesn't know what they're dealing with, they will though."
Everybody moved off with minimal discussion, with Harmony saying "Alright, bossy" cheerfully, she was glad to be given license to do some maiming, she never got to do that, being Angel's secretary was kinda boring. The group dispersing was like the scene they had earlier, when they were sure they would save Fred.
Angel and Spike caught up and then led the security team, this would be the vampires second major fight of the night.
A zombie in one of the topmost floors of the building had stopped trying to break through the door of its former office. It was distracted by the noise outside. Their was the sharp yet muffled cracks of large amounts of gunfire, the wail of sirens filled the air as parts of the city were aflame.
Wolfram and Hart was nearer the center of the city.
To the south, the police and others were fighting a losing battle. Los Angeles was being slowly overrun by the massed crowds of Illyria infected zombies.