Lilah stood on top of a tall mountain, looking down at the winding rivers below. There was a forest littered with footpaths. Each had many bridges over the various rivers. The forest stretched on forever. All of the paths ended at the mountain, but some looked almost impossible to follow to the end. "What is this place?" Lilah asked

"I like to think of it as the place where all metaphors take place." An Irish accent said behind her. "It looks the part."

Lilah turned around and looked at the man. "I know who you are." She told Doyle

"I know you to Lilah, I've been watching you."

"Really," She said "I'm flattered."

"Well it's more that I was watching Angel and Cordy and you just happened to be there."

"So you know all about me huh?" Lilah found she didn't like the idea.

"Yeah, I guess I do. You're a bitch, you know that?"

"I've been told." Lilah said

"I remember." He said "Cordy got to ya, got you to shoot Billy."

"He was a bastard." Lilah recalled

"That he was, and the world is full of people like him, you're used to dealing with those sorts, but that's not what we need you to do now. We need you to help the people standing where you are." Doyle gestured to the ledge. "We need you to show them the other options."

"You need me to tell them I was bad and I regret it and that their suffering has meaning oh and cheer up life gets better. You want me to bring them over to the Powers with false promises of happiness and a light at the end of the tunnel." Lilah said scornfully

"No, we want you to tell them the truth; that the path to paradise is long and painful and at times will seem worse than hell, but it is worth it not just because of the reward, but because of the journey. You are about to embark on a journey Lilah. Are you ready?"

Willow looked over the papers. "I can do this." She could, but the kind of magic it would take was frightening, and as for the results… "Do you understand what you're asking me to do?"

"We understand." Angel said "We're begging you to do it."

Willow looked at Spike, Gunn, Angel and Wesley. "You're asking me to give someone a fate arguably worse than hell. Illyria would be sent out of phase with all dimensions. She'll spend an eternity in pain, with no form. She'll have no reprieve, her agony will be endless. She'll endure all of this in nothingness, apart from all worlds. You're asking me to do that to a living creature. You're asking me to do something far more vicious than murder."

"We take full responsibility." Wesley promised

"It's not about that." Willow insisted, she now knew why they wanted to talk this over with her alone "For me to use my powers in such a way brings me close to terrible darkness."

"We wouldn't ask if there were any other way." Wes said softly

Willow looked at him and she understood. She remembered Fred; sweet, lovely, smart Fred. Wesley was in love with her and Willow understood why. She understood what it was like to lose someone and to be willing to do anything to get them back. "I have to think about this."

"Willow, Illyria was never meant to return to this world." Angel said "Even if she remained, after what we did she'll just try to kill us. We have enough to worry about without another vengeful ex-god gunning for us." Angel intentionally phrased his statement in such a way to remind Willow of Glory. He knew subconsciously reminding Willow of Buffy's death and what she had done to get her back was manipulative, but he need her to be on their side.

"Please red," Spike said in a voice of startling sincerity "We need her back."

Willow looked deep into Spike's eyes. She saw a selfless concern in them she didn't think the vamp could feel for anyone but Buffy. It touched her. "Spike,"

"Look," Gunn was staring at his hands. "You don't know me very well," He said "You don't have any reason to care about me. Here's the deal though, I know a thing or two about eternal torment. I murdered Fred, I sold her soul for a mental upgrade. I didn't know, but that doesn't change the way I feel. If I could take Illyria's place and convince you to do the spell that way I would. I can't, so you just figure out what you need to justify this in your mind and let us know what you need. I don't care what you have to tell yourself, bring her back."

Willow looked at the papers in front of her. "I have to-"

"If you don't do the spell I get sent to hell." Wesley said bluntly

"What?" Willow looked around the room, but the other occupants were just as confused as she was. Except Angel had a suspicion, remembering the deal.

"I made a deal with the Wolf. If we don't get rid of Illyria I haven't kept my end of the deal. I'm pretty sure that means I get to spend eternity in hell." Wesley said "So there's that."

Willow looked stricken. Angel tried to console her. "We're sorry to put you in this-"

"I'll do it." She cut him off. Willow looked deep into Wesley's eyes. "I felt you die. It hurt, and there were all these awful sensations, of being ripped from a mortal body, then being tied to the earth while the soul tries to cross over. It hurt so bad and you felt all that." She stared at Wesley. "You don't even remember. I can see your aura fading, soon you'll be nothing but a shell; you won't even know your name. I'll do this thing for you, because your last moments on this earth are coming and I think there should be a chance they are happy ones."

They all stood frozen by this revelation. Gunn looked at his friend. "Wes, you-"

"Thank you Willow." Wesley said "I appreciate this."

"Anne?" Gunn walked into her room. "Are you okay?" What a stupid question.

Anne sat on the side of her bed, gripping her shoulders. To his surprise she spoke. "I wanted to save them. I was willing to betray all of you to save them. Now they're dead."

"I know." Gunn was unable to think of anything better to say.

"I made so many mistakes, I hit rock bottom. Then I was given a chance to rebuild my life from scratch. I became somebody, I did good." She continued to look at the wall and speak in a listless voice. "You asked me what I would do if I found out none of it matters."

"I was having a rough day, thought I might not make it." Gunn tried to explain

Anne continued as if he hadn't spoken. "I helped people, I can still help people."

"Yes you can." Gunn said with enthusisim.

"I'm going to start over again." Anne decided "But I won't forget. I'm not changing my name this time, pretending the past didn't happen. I'll remember the good… and the bad."

"I'll help you." Gunn said "Whatever you need,"

Finally she looked at him. "Give me something to do."

Angel approached the site of the Hyperion. He stood where his home used to be and thought about how twenty-eight innocent souls had died here. This wasn't his home anymore.

"No," The Wolf agreed; she came out of nowhere, but Angel wasn't surprised.

"You can read my mind."

"I can. I can see anything even if it is concealed. Such is the power of my eyes. All that I touch I can reduce to ash. Such is the power of my hands. All that corrodes I can endure. Such is the power of my will. You know what I am." She was so confident, it was a perverse charisma.

"I don't." Angel said truthfully, but he felt part of him did

"You know of the First." Not a question

"We've met." Angel said

"We were his first disiples, and his most powerful. We are as we are the only of his students not to be tainted. We are still pure, we withstand, we endure."

"That would be inspiring." Angel said as they faced each other with the hole she had used to crawl out of her hell a few yards to their left "If it weren't for the whole evil thing."

"I do not mean to inspire you. Prophecy dictates that when the world ends you will be there and you will play a part. For this reason you live, none other. You think we fear you, but we are only playing by the rules of the game. The rules say you live, so you live. That is all. Your mortal lives hold great fascination for us, but do not mistake this for humanity. I like watching you, I like playing with you. But at the end of the day I will eat you, because I am hungry." She smiled at him, this beautiful woman, this ancient evil.

"Why?"

"We are higher beings, beyond your comprehension. We desire, so we take. We know no other way, nor do we wish to. Your humans are pretty, we like them, so we take them."

"You are not a higher being." Angel insisted

"Our power is beyond any you have ever seen before. We were the first to be imbued with the power of evil, we were the first to allow it to fill us, and the only to never doubt it."

"So what?" Angel asked "So you're evil, so you're powerful. I've seen all that before."

"Foolish mortal," The Wolf spoke like an indulging parent "You do not comprehend."

"I don't want to." Angel said

"Then why are you here?" The Wolf gestured at the destruction.

"To mourn, to remind myself why I have to defeat you." Angel answered

"You think their lives had meaning." The Wolf said

Angel walked over to the tear in the earth, looked into the darkness. "It's closed. What happened to the people you threw in, the ones that kept you from having to go back?"

"Clever boy," The Wolf continued to speak in her motherly voice "Their bodies are dead, but I had no claim to their souls. This world is not yet mine. Their souls belong to whoever they served and went on to the place prepared for them by thier master."

Angel nodded. "Conner thinks…"

"Yes, Conner, let's talk about him."

Buffy was pissed. She wanted to talk to Angel about what was going on, but the second they had gotten back he'd gathered his crew and asked Willow to give them a consultation on something. When they returned from their seclusion he'd taken off without a word. Now everyone was looking at her, expecting her to do or say something. What was she supposed to do when she had no idea what was going on? She surveyed the room. Willow, Kennedy, Xander, and Faith had come here with her. Spike she of course knew. Wesley she knew as well, or thought she did. Willow had told Buffy about her trip to L.A. and how much the watcher had changed. None of the werewolves were here, including Oz, they probably were looking for better clothes. The people she didn't know were a young black man, the woman whose hand he was holding, a blond woman with a scar on her neck like the one she had, Angel's son and two demons who she wasn't quite sure why they were here.

"Okay," She sighed "Does anybody know where Angel went?"

"I do." The female demon said "I had a vision."

"Okay, who are you?" Buffy wasn't in the habit of trusting strange demons.

"I'm Teresa, I can read minds and sometimes I get visions of the future."

"Okay, where's Angel?"

"He went back to the Hyperion to meet with the Wolf."

Buffy felt her blood run cold. "Why?"

Teresa shrugged. "I just saw them talking, maybe it's one of those things like in the movies where James Bond talks to the baddie over a cup of tea or a shot of alcohol."

"Isn't James Bond usually being held captive when that happens?" Xander asked

"Bad example," Teresa admitted

"Okay," Buffy said before realizing she'd said that four times in a short conversation. She needed to get her bearings and none of this was helping. Despite her desire to keep her former watcher out of danger she wished Giles was here. He would know what to do. But there was another watcher here, and despite what she thought of Wesley he was the only person in the room who didn't look confused, scared, angry, or some combination thereof. In fact Wesley didn't look much of anything at all, just sort of there. Buffy figures it was a ghost thing. "Wes,"

The former watcher looked at her. "Yes Buffy,"

"What can you tell me about the Wolf, Ram, and Hart?"

"Would you like me to stick only to known facts or inform you of the theory I'm working on?" Wesley asked her in the most cooperative manner possible

"Is it a useful theory?"

"I think so."

"Please share." Buffy requested

"For the longest time I've been focusing on why the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart chose now for the time of their crossing. I know they've been planning something for a long time, but eliminating the circle of the black thorn should have pushed their plans back considerably. For some reason they had to push ahead with their plans even though eliminating the circle weakened them. I thought it had something to do with Angel and the prophecy that predicts he plays a pivotal role in the apocalypse. But now I think I've been looking at this the wrong way from the start. I believe that not all of the Wolf's, Ram's, and Hart's connections to this dimension were severed when they left. I believe that each left an essence of themselves here somehow kept by humanity. I think the Wolf created werewolves, and they are her connection to this plane. I believe the Ram and Hart have similar connections."

Buffy let all of this wash over her. "If we find the other connections, and sever them, what happens? Can the Ram and Hart still cross over?"

Wesley shook his head. "It's just a theory, but if I'm right, I don't think it would be possible to sever the connections. The connections will be something alive and continuous. To sever the connections would be like killing every werewolf in the world; even if it were moral, which I don't think it is, it would be as hard as killing every vamp-" Wesley stopped midsentence. "Pire," He finished in a whisper "Oh my God, I'm a bloody idiot."

"We know," Spike assured him "Why exactly?"

"Human altered by the spirit of a demon, of course vampires." Wesley said

"Uh English translation please?" Xander asked

"Wesley thinks the Ram or Hart created vampires." Willow explained

"Like the Wolf created werewolves yes," Wesley agreed "Therefore it stands to reason that in a similar manner to the influence the Wolf had over werewolves-"

"Whoever created vampires can control them." Buffy finished

"But she couldn't." Willow said "The Wolf, control the werewolves." She explained. "Oz wasn't totally under her control. He protected me from another werewolf." Kennedy looked at her girlfriend, unsure about how she felt about Willow's ex being here.

"That's good." Wesley said "She still doesn't have full strength."

"It doesn't matter." They all turned to look at Angel as he came through the door. He looked exhausted and sad, so very sad. He held a knife in his hand which he threw on the floor.

Willow gaped. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Probably," Angel said "The Wolf gave it to me, wanted me to use it."

"I don't understand." Willow said

"I'll explain." Angel said "I now know why evil likes the dark. Those of us who faced the First, we've seen pure evil, but everyone else, you have no idea. Pure evil isn't tainted by humanity, so it doesn't seek out the dark. Evil likes the dark because in those who have any humanity or decency, even in residual amounts it breeds shame and doubt. The first had only three disciples whose evil remains pure. There are only three purely evil beings besides it."

"The Wolf, Ram, and Hart." Buffy said "Okay, but-"

Angel didn't let her finish. "I just looked into the eyes of pure evil and do you know what I saw?" He looked around the room, everyone was waiting in trepidation. "We have a chance."

This answer was a shock to many. "I spoke to a creature incapable of mercy and she offered me a way out. She knows we have a chance, she knows that when united we have strength, so she wants us split apart. This knife, Willow tell everyone what it does."

"It was used in ancient sacrifices. It burns up all impurities in a person, leaves only the clean soul, then kills the body. This way a sacrifice was always pure." Willow said

"That's pretty much how she explained it to me. She told me to use the knife." Angel gestured toward it, clearly not wanting to touch it. "She said if I killed my friends with it they would get to move on to paradise, where their sins couldn't follow. She said I could walk away, ensure peace for those who never knew it in life, and then live for millennia. She offered this to me because she knows we have the power to stop her." Angel surveyed the room. Many of the people here were broken, but together, they made a whole. "We just have to stick together."

"Can we get rid of that thing please?" Lorne asked, pointing at the knife

"We should lock it up." Wesley said

"I'll do it." Faith offered "I'll look for a safe somewhere around here."

"Great," Angel said "Willow," Willow looked at him. She knew what he wanted, but she wasn't so frightened any more. Yes it was a terrible thing she was going to do to a living creature, but a great thing she was going to do for another. Poor, sweet Fred was going to get a second chance at life. Angel locked eyes with her. "Are you ready?"

"It's going to be loud." Willow said "Let's get started."

Nina heard a knock on the door to the room she and a fellow female werewolf had decided to share. They hadn't spoken much, but it was nice to have company.

Somehow she knew it would be Oz. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Nina I'm sorry." He looked it.

"You told me I had to be strong, fight the change. You said if I didn't you would leave me; but all along you were the weak one. You were the one who couldn't fight the change."

"I tried, I wasn't strong enough." Oz said "I'm so sorry."

"You threatened to leave me if I was weak; you were weak, so I'm leaving you."

"I only said that to help you fight, I was never going to-"

Nina cut him off. "I could have fought off the change. Once you went though, I had to or you might have attacked me. Your weakness cost us both. I can't even look at you right now. All the stuff you said to me was a lie. We're not in control, they are. They pretend we have power, but when it counts they lead. You filled my head with false hope and right now I'm not sure if I ever want to see you again." Nina closed the door in his face.

"It wasn't a lie." Oz whispered, but he wasn't sure

As Oz headed back toward his own room, the one Xander had offered to share with him, he heard tormented screaming from another part of the abbey. He froze. Whatever was making that sound was inhuman. He shivered, hoping it would be dead soon.

Willow held a piece of paper in her hand, it was from Lilah's file. She looked at the creature that had killed Fred. She hadn't chosen it, but it had happened. Now she was going to be punished. Forever. "Do you have any uh… last requests?"

"I request to be allowed to torture the vampire to death." Illyria said calmly

"Any that don't involve us letting you out of the cage?" Willow tried

Illyria stood immobile, arms crossed over her chest. "No,"

"Last words maybe?" Willow didn't know what she was doing, stalling?

"The price to the action you are about to take will be high." Illyria said calmly "You will tremble and weep. Nothing is free stupid mortal, much less lives that were never meant to be."

"Right," Willow said "Is that it?"

"Yes," Illyria said, but she wasn't looking at Willow, she was staring at Wesley

"Okay, so this is basically an exorcism. We all know they can be messy, so let's all just be careful." Willow cleared her throat. She began to read the words from the paper and for a few minutes nothing happened. Illyria stood in her cage, Willow chanted, Lorne, Angel, Gunn, Spike, and Wesley looked on. Willow never faltered or looked concerned though.

"Why isn't anything happening?" Spike asked and was immediately hushed.

Willow kept chanting and after a few minutes Illyria collapsed. One instant she was standing calm, the next she was writhing on the floor. She began to scream. The screams went from almost human to unearthly wailing. No natural creature should be able to make that sound.

"Jesus," Spike muttered

Willow's eyes turned black and Angel was glad Buffy wasn't here to see what he had asked her best friend to do. "Illyria who was called forth from the deeper well," Willow's voice was thunder. "I send you from this body and from this plane. I send you away." The screeching continued and blue seemed to bleed off of her. It made a shape like a spider, not because it looked like a spider, because it didn't look like anything. It looked wrong. "You who were not meant for this world in this time are banned from all worlds." There was a sound like a million window panes crashing and a million thunder claps clapping. They all put their hands over their ears and shouted in pain. "Illyria who was called forth, we send you back."

With a final scream the wrong shapes and the blue blood melted away, as though it had never been there. Indeed the only indication that anything had happened at all was their ringing ears and a gasping Fred sitting in the cage.

Conner sat on his bed. Kate was sitting in a chair nearby, watching him. Neither of them pretended Angel hadn't asked her to and Conner appreciated that. Not a lot, but he was glad she didn't try to show him any fake concern. She was here to stop him from trying to stop Willow.

"What do you think?" Conner asked her when the screaming started

"About the noise?" Conner nodded. "I think it's loud."

"Do you think it's right?"

"It doesn't matter what I think." Kate said

"Illyria fought for us, she cared about us. Now listen to what Angel's doing to her."

"I trust Angel." Kate said

"Because you fucked him?" Conner asked

Kate was shocked by his crass language and that he knew about her tryst with Angel. "I don't have to defend my actions to you." She said "My decision to trust Angel doesn't have anything to do with my sex life. Angel and I both needed something from each other."

"And did you get it?" Conner mocked

"Like I said, I don't have to defend my actions to you." Kate said truthfully

"You could have turned him evil." Conner accused "Not that there's a big difference at this point." He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty good, but giving a man who just witnessed a slaughter perfect happiness? I'm not that good, nobody should be that good."

They were silent as they listened to the remaining screams.

Faith and Buffy avoided looking at each other as the screams filled the abbey. The door opened and Kennedy came in. "I didn't want to be alone." She explained "Not with… that."

"Come in." Buffy offered "We understand." Kennedy entered their room.

"Sure is loud." Faith said "I wonder if it really hurts all that much. Maybe she's just being extra-dramatic to make them feel bad." Faith knew this wasn't the case.

Kennedy verbalized their feelings. "She isn't screaming in pain. That scream is pain."

Buffy stood up and hugged Kennedy. Faith stared at them, pain tunneling in her ear.

Anne stared at Teresa in horror. The telepathic demon was giggling. "I can hear you."

"That screaming is terrible." Anne protested "What's so funny?"

"A million millions stretches forever and I hear them. I can hear you." The clearly insane hybrid laughed and laughed, eventually falling to the floor and being overtaken by the laughter.

"Please stop." Anne begged "You're scaring me."

"Forever stretches on. Oh what terrible prices we all pay."

Tears spilled from Anne's eyes. "Don't say that."

Teresa's chuckles petered out. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear how much I love you." She started again.

"Please Teresa, what's causing this?" Anne knew the screaming must be responsible, but why was it having this particular effect on Teresa?

"No more sunshine, not ever again, not for them." Teresa's back went rigid and she joined Illyria in her screaming. Anne clutched her ears and tried to block them out.

Gunn rushed up to the cage to unlock the door. Fred screamed. She crossed her arms in front of her face. Her screaming was wordless and shrill, but still not as terrible as the otherworldly cries of Illyria. Yet Fred's screams hurt them more.

"What went wrong?" Spike asked, sensing something had

"Nothing," Willow said "I excised Illyria."

"But Fred," Angel wasn't sure how to finish. They all stared at the terrified creature that was supposed to be their dear departed friend.

"She was trapped inside Illyria." Wesley said "Her shattered soul came together all at once. The shock must be equivalent to birth." But he thought it was worse than that.

Fred lowered her arms a smidgen. "W-w-w-w-w," She was trying to say something, but kept tripping over that one sound. Her voice sped up and she sounded frightened. Gunn tried to grip her shoulders but she screamed and scooted back farther into the cage. There she fell silent.

"Fred," Angel whispered as he approached slowly "Do you remember me?" She stared at him. Gunn stepped back and let Angel get closer. He stopped at the cage door. "Do you want to come out of there?" She didn't move. "Fred?"

"Say something." Spike begged, unable to stop himself

Lorne stepped behind Angel. "Hey Fredikins, you remember me?"

She stared at him with squinting eyes, trying to make him out. "Y-y-y-y-," The same thing as before started over with the new sound.

"Fred!" Angel spoke harshly and she closed her mouth so fast they heard her teeth clatter together. "Fred," He said softly "You know us, we're your friends."

She looked at him. "I-" She closed her eyes and enunciated each word with great effort, pulling them from her diaphragm like pulling teeth. "I-know-you." She opened her eyes.

Angel grinned. "Yes, you know me. I'm Angel."

"A-A-An-gel, Angel," Fred looked at his questioningly.

"Right," He looked around at the others, smiling. "Do you want to come out of there?"

She looked at him in confusion, uncomprehending. "Angel?"

"That's me." The smile slipped from his face. Angel stood up and pointed to Lorne. "Do you remember him?" He pointed to Wesley. "Or him?"

Fred's face lit up. "Wesley!" She shouted

Wesley couldn't keep the smile off his face, especially when Fred stumbled to her feet in Illyria's strange leather get-up and started toward him. "Hey Fred,"

She stopped at the door to the cage, as though unsure if she should cross. "It's okay Fred." Angel held out his hand to her. "Come on out." She took his hand and flinched, but when nothing happened she opened her eyes and smiled at him. Angel knew in that moment that Fred was back. He looked over at Willow and didn't have to say anything because his eyes conveyed his thanks. "There you go," Angel encouraged as he helped her out.

"Hey Fred," Gunn said "You remember me?"

"Ch-Ch-Charles!" Fred shouted in excitement.

Gunn grinned. "Yeah," He put an arm around Lorne. "How about this pea-soup complexioned guy? Do you remember him?"

"L-Lorne," She said firmly "Lorne,"

"That's me." The Pylean looked ecstatic.

Fred giggled and walked across the room, right up to Wesley. "Wesley," she said "You are Wesley." She tried to touch his face, but her hand went right through him. Fred screamed.