Thanks to Imzadi, Alisynien, custardpringle, Anonymous Reviewer (high five!), stargurl727, and Alien Outcast. (Everybody should go read Imzadi's Lindsey story now, btw.) Pluggery over, I'd like to point out, since I didn't in the last chapter, that I do not own these guys and although I would desperately love to, I'm not making any profit out of this.
And just a note to everybody: Since Angel has been canceled, the fans have responded admirably to this disaster. Try and be one of them. Send a letter, a postcard, an email, whatever. Let's keep Angel alive!
xXxXxXxXx
A cloud of steam issued from the shower as Fred stepped out, wrapping herself in a towel. She glanced at the clock on the wall, noting the time. 6:30. She picked up a brush and started combing through her hair, thinking over Wesley's theory.
There are plenty of inconsistencies in this plan, Fred told herself. How did Wesley get from 'champion' to 'solitary' again? Something about being unparalleled... but that doesn't go to solitary. She frowned. And why get me to kiss him? Couldn't he just help me with my work or something? And how am I actually going to kiss him, anyways? He's incorporeal!
And yet, despite the confusing flaws, Fred had to admit that there was literally nothing else to do. Her plan using the amulet was extremely shaky, even if she could get ahold of something as powerful as the Conduit's blood. It had barely worked when they'd tried it with a reliable power source and a physical boundary for the conversion field. And now she was contemplating whipping up a field out of nowhere and limiting it to Spike's energy, and God knows where she was going to find a power source.
But something else was drawing her to this plan. She had to admit, when Eve had first told her she was going to kiss Spike, her stomach had done an odd little dance as she assumed what Eve had meant. She was certainly interested in the experience of physical contact with a ghost. But then, Eve's words back in Angel's office had been bouncing around her head for the last couple days.
"He is quite the dish, with those eyes..." Eve had said. Fred had been on the verge of agreeing, but dismissing it as unimportant.
"And the hair, and the cheeks, and what do you think I am, stupid?" she'd shot back instead. "I know he's been playing me with the looks and the smiles." And deep down, she knew it was true. Spike was being courteous and charming because he knew there was something in it for him. But that night, she'd wondered if it was really true that Spike only cared about himself. She knew that he had been in love with the Vampire Slayer, an odd enough situation in itself. But she wondered if he had really felt love. She wondered if the Slayer had felt, when she looked into his eyes, that there was someone who cared about her so much he was willing to die for her. She wondered if their encounters had been driven by something more than just physical need. And she wondered, if he got the chance, would he be able to really feel that for anyone again?
Fred slowly realized she had stopped brushing her hair altogether. She sighed, looking in the mirror and scrutinising her reflection. Would Spike, as a ghost, have a reflection? she wondered. She glanced behind her, as she'd done so often in front of mirrors since she learned about vampires.
It took her a second to realize there was one standing right there.
xXx
Spike walked down the long, carpeted hallway with a bounce in his step. The Mystically Brainy Yet Socially Hopeless One had come up with a possible solution to his current incorporeality, and to Spike the words 'We might have a solution for you' were the sweetest ones he'd heard all day. Granted, it hadn't come from the mouth of English himself, but Spike figured Wolfram & Hart's resident lap dog was a good enough messenger.
He mused about what he'd do once he got his body back. Beer, cigarettes and women were definitely a priority on the list. Then he figured he'd go out and kick a few evildoers' asses. He was aching to hear somebody -
Scream? Spike looked up as a shriek echoed around the hall. Fred! Not bothering to dodge the few startled people coming his way, he took the most direct route to Fred's room, whipping through doors and walls. He came through her bathroom door and skidded to a halt, confronted with a vampire in full game face holding Fred's neck with an iron grip. As the vamp lowered his teeth to her neck, Spike concentrated as hard as he could on his fist becoming solid, and punched it with all the strength he possessed.
Spike's sudden determination and force caught the vampire a solid crack to the side of the head. It released Fred with a howl of pain and whipped around, snarling at Spike. He let it swing through his incorporeal torso a couple of times before grabbing it and using its own momentum to throw it through the wall. The vampire hit the opposite side of the corridor and fell hard. Spike swooped down on the vamp, grabbing a jagged piece of the wall as he did, and, snarling fiercely in concentration, drove it through the vampire's chest. It exploded in a cloud of dust with the familiar shriek.
"Is it dead?" Fred said shakily, holding her towel up with one hand and still clutching at her neck with the other. She peered around the broken wall and looked up at Spike with wide eyes.
"Yeah, it's gone. Don't worry." Spike let the piece of wood fall through his fist and, not bothering to walk around the wreckage of the wall, came back inside. "How'd it get in?"
"I have no idea." Fred turned away, taking deep breaths.
"Don't worry. It's okay, pet," he said quietly, attempting a reassuring smile. "Probably just an accident. 'Sides, I'm here now, so you're bound to be safe."
She smiled weakly. "You're incorporeal, Spike."
"And see how much that didn't matter when I was offin' that vamp?" he grinned cheekily. "I've been practicing."
"That was impressive," she admitted. "You know, it'd actually be kind of cool if you could stay a ghost, and just make yourself insubstantial on a whim. Fighting would be a lot easier."
"Thanks, love, but I think I'll stick with Plan Get-My-Body-Back." He shrugged and she made an apologetic noise. "Of course... I just meant..."
"I know." Fred tried to smile and cleared her throat. Suddenly, they were both aware of the fact that Fred was still standing there in a towel.
"Er... well, I'll just be, uh..." Spike motioned vaguely to the remaining splinters of the door. Fred started. "Right! Uh - I'll just get dressed."
Spike turned and left as Fred watched. She sighed and looked into the mirror,
xXx
At the moment the vampire's shriek echoed through the upper halls of Wolfram & Hart, Angel and Wesley were standing in the lab having a discussion. The lights were mostly off, the only illumination coming from the door and the white hallway it opened onto. It was almost perfectly quiet in the lab, except for the slick noise of paintbrushes on cement, and the hushed mutters of the few people standing there.
"So everything's good?" Angel asked Wesley, his voice lowered. Wesley's eyes scanned the layout in front of him as he replied.
"I believe so. If Fred stands right there, the blood should hit the middle of the symbol, and it should put everything into motion," he said, motioning to a spot just left of the large pentagram painted on the floor. Foreign characters were inscribed around the pentagram, and Gunn and Lorne were kneeling on the floor finishing the last of them. The characters and the pentagram glistened with a thick red lustre, painted in what looked a lot like blood.
"Good. We've got to get this right the first time. There's not going to be enough of her blood to do it again," Angel said. Wesley looked sideways at him and nodded. "It'll happen right the first time."
An abrupt thud made Wesley jump. He and Angel turned, as the vampire frowned at two scientists who were standing on either side of a locked closet door. The door was shuddering ominously, and the scientists looked like they would rather be anywhere else. "Can't you keep him quiet?" Angel demanded.
"Sorry. But he's hungry," one of them said, looking pale.
Angel faced the completed layout and muttered to himself, "That's the only way this is going to work."
xXxXxXxXx
Dun dun dun! *looks around shiftily* So what's Angel keeping in that closet? Keep reading to find out.
And just a note to everybody: Since Angel has been canceled, the fans have responded admirably to this disaster. Try and be one of them. Send a letter, a postcard, an email, whatever. Let's keep Angel alive!
xXxXxXxXx
A cloud of steam issued from the shower as Fred stepped out, wrapping herself in a towel. She glanced at the clock on the wall, noting the time. 6:30. She picked up a brush and started combing through her hair, thinking over Wesley's theory.
There are plenty of inconsistencies in this plan, Fred told herself. How did Wesley get from 'champion' to 'solitary' again? Something about being unparalleled... but that doesn't go to solitary. She frowned. And why get me to kiss him? Couldn't he just help me with my work or something? And how am I actually going to kiss him, anyways? He's incorporeal!
And yet, despite the confusing flaws, Fred had to admit that there was literally nothing else to do. Her plan using the amulet was extremely shaky, even if she could get ahold of something as powerful as the Conduit's blood. It had barely worked when they'd tried it with a reliable power source and a physical boundary for the conversion field. And now she was contemplating whipping up a field out of nowhere and limiting it to Spike's energy, and God knows where she was going to find a power source.
But something else was drawing her to this plan. She had to admit, when Eve had first told her she was going to kiss Spike, her stomach had done an odd little dance as she assumed what Eve had meant. She was certainly interested in the experience of physical contact with a ghost. But then, Eve's words back in Angel's office had been bouncing around her head for the last couple days.
"He is quite the dish, with those eyes..." Eve had said. Fred had been on the verge of agreeing, but dismissing it as unimportant.
"And the hair, and the cheeks, and what do you think I am, stupid?" she'd shot back instead. "I know he's been playing me with the looks and the smiles." And deep down, she knew it was true. Spike was being courteous and charming because he knew there was something in it for him. But that night, she'd wondered if it was really true that Spike only cared about himself. She knew that he had been in love with the Vampire Slayer, an odd enough situation in itself. But she wondered if he had really felt love. She wondered if the Slayer had felt, when she looked into his eyes, that there was someone who cared about her so much he was willing to die for her. She wondered if their encounters had been driven by something more than just physical need. And she wondered, if he got the chance, would he be able to really feel that for anyone again?
Fred slowly realized she had stopped brushing her hair altogether. She sighed, looking in the mirror and scrutinising her reflection. Would Spike, as a ghost, have a reflection? she wondered. She glanced behind her, as she'd done so often in front of mirrors since she learned about vampires.
It took her a second to realize there was one standing right there.
xXx
Spike walked down the long, carpeted hallway with a bounce in his step. The Mystically Brainy Yet Socially Hopeless One had come up with a possible solution to his current incorporeality, and to Spike the words 'We might have a solution for you' were the sweetest ones he'd heard all day. Granted, it hadn't come from the mouth of English himself, but Spike figured Wolfram & Hart's resident lap dog was a good enough messenger.
He mused about what he'd do once he got his body back. Beer, cigarettes and women were definitely a priority on the list. Then he figured he'd go out and kick a few evildoers' asses. He was aching to hear somebody -
Scream? Spike looked up as a shriek echoed around the hall. Fred! Not bothering to dodge the few startled people coming his way, he took the most direct route to Fred's room, whipping through doors and walls. He came through her bathroom door and skidded to a halt, confronted with a vampire in full game face holding Fred's neck with an iron grip. As the vamp lowered his teeth to her neck, Spike concentrated as hard as he could on his fist becoming solid, and punched it with all the strength he possessed.
Spike's sudden determination and force caught the vampire a solid crack to the side of the head. It released Fred with a howl of pain and whipped around, snarling at Spike. He let it swing through his incorporeal torso a couple of times before grabbing it and using its own momentum to throw it through the wall. The vampire hit the opposite side of the corridor and fell hard. Spike swooped down on the vamp, grabbing a jagged piece of the wall as he did, and, snarling fiercely in concentration, drove it through the vampire's chest. It exploded in a cloud of dust with the familiar shriek.
"Is it dead?" Fred said shakily, holding her towel up with one hand and still clutching at her neck with the other. She peered around the broken wall and looked up at Spike with wide eyes.
"Yeah, it's gone. Don't worry." Spike let the piece of wood fall through his fist and, not bothering to walk around the wreckage of the wall, came back inside. "How'd it get in?"
"I have no idea." Fred turned away, taking deep breaths.
"Don't worry. It's okay, pet," he said quietly, attempting a reassuring smile. "Probably just an accident. 'Sides, I'm here now, so you're bound to be safe."
She smiled weakly. "You're incorporeal, Spike."
"And see how much that didn't matter when I was offin' that vamp?" he grinned cheekily. "I've been practicing."
"That was impressive," she admitted. "You know, it'd actually be kind of cool if you could stay a ghost, and just make yourself insubstantial on a whim. Fighting would be a lot easier."
"Thanks, love, but I think I'll stick with Plan Get-My-Body-Back." He shrugged and she made an apologetic noise. "Of course... I just meant..."
"I know." Fred tried to smile and cleared her throat. Suddenly, they were both aware of the fact that Fred was still standing there in a towel.
"Er... well, I'll just be, uh..." Spike motioned vaguely to the remaining splinters of the door. Fred started. "Right! Uh - I'll just get dressed."
Spike turned and left as Fred watched. She sighed and looked into the mirror,
xXx
At the moment the vampire's shriek echoed through the upper halls of Wolfram & Hart, Angel and Wesley were standing in the lab having a discussion. The lights were mostly off, the only illumination coming from the door and the white hallway it opened onto. It was almost perfectly quiet in the lab, except for the slick noise of paintbrushes on cement, and the hushed mutters of the few people standing there.
"So everything's good?" Angel asked Wesley, his voice lowered. Wesley's eyes scanned the layout in front of him as he replied.
"I believe so. If Fred stands right there, the blood should hit the middle of the symbol, and it should put everything into motion," he said, motioning to a spot just left of the large pentagram painted on the floor. Foreign characters were inscribed around the pentagram, and Gunn and Lorne were kneeling on the floor finishing the last of them. The characters and the pentagram glistened with a thick red lustre, painted in what looked a lot like blood.
"Good. We've got to get this right the first time. There's not going to be enough of her blood to do it again," Angel said. Wesley looked sideways at him and nodded. "It'll happen right the first time."
An abrupt thud made Wesley jump. He and Angel turned, as the vampire frowned at two scientists who were standing on either side of a locked closet door. The door was shuddering ominously, and the scientists looked like they would rather be anywhere else. "Can't you keep him quiet?" Angel demanded.
"Sorry. But he's hungry," one of them said, looking pale.
Angel faced the completed layout and muttered to himself, "That's the only way this is going to work."
xXxXxXxXx
Dun dun dun! *looks around shiftily* So what's Angel keeping in that closet? Keep reading to find out.