Your Friends and Neighbors [Fred]
Angel walked The City, ego bruised as badly as his body. Curing Sam, being part of a team and no longer in Hell didn't feel as good as it should have. Angel was secretly jealous of Sam's curse; the abilities it gave the young hunter meant that Sam would never be obsolete. In Hell, the healing spells and other magic Wesley used to keep up vampire appearances might have been slowly killing Angel but it at least enabled him to continue posing as a champion.
The former vampire didn't know who he was or what he was going to do with himself any more.
The sight of his old basement apartment and office building surprised him. Angel entered the original sight of Angel Investigations. Everything was just as he'd left it before Wolfram & Hart had blown it to pieces. Even the elevator which lead to what Doyle had dubbed The Bat Cave, a very dated computer, the work mini-fridge stocked with butcher's blood, the receptionist desk Cordelia used...
Angel frowned.
Fred had never seen the old building; she'd only known the hotel, the Hyperion. Sure, she'd heard a story or two of the days before, but she'd never actually seen the place. The fact that she found it now; well, the City was a little funny that way.
With the zombies gone, Fred had gone home, taken a much needed shower, and slept like the dead. She'd needed the rest apparently. The next morning, while paying for her brunch, she'd found a card with what definitely looked more like a lobster than an angel and an address she hadn't seen before. This wasn't right; she knew the emblem, but the address?
So, she took a chance. Maybe she'd see Wesley, or Charles, or Cordelia. She might see Angel, but he probably wouldn't recognize her. That was what Buffy had said, wasn't it? Angel wouldn't know who she was, but she was going to take the chance anyway. She had to know what it was like, and even though she knew curiosity wasn't always the best thing, she walked through the first set of doors and down to the office to find someone standing in the dark.
"H..hello? Is anyone home?" The door closed behind her a little louder than she expected, meaning she jumped. "Good, Fred, jus' lock yourself in with a bad guy."
"Illyria?" Angel peered into the entry from inside his former office. He looked confused to see her that way. Typically she only took on the form of Fred when around Wesley, though Spike had supposedly seen the transformation before. It was strange seeing her there, especially strange seeing her as Fred, inside a building that shouldn't have existed.
"You didn't happen to rip a hole in time and space sending us into yet another pocket dimension, did you?"
Angel rubbed the back of his head.
Fred's brows furrowed at the name, then the question. Not that she didn't find the question intriguing, but she was rather certain she only did the whole space ripping bit when she went to Pylea.
"Angel?" Fred took a few steps closer. "Angel, is that you? Oh! This is why you donno me! I've got another name or somethin' in your dimension. That's gotta be it. That or maybe you bumped your head? Not that vampires really get amnesia...do they?"
She'd taken a few more steps and stopped, hands sliding into jeans pockets as she waited for him to say something. It was...awkward? She wasn't sure if she should run and hug him, or just wait. She'd heard about his going all dark and evil once or twice, or when he started out, which she still had a hard time believing, even if she had seen his demon face.
"Fred?" Angel stared. He wasn't sure he believed it at first, but it certainly sounded like her. "Not pretend Fred? Winifred Fred?"
"Pretend Fred?" Fred gave him that "I feel for you" smile. "Angel, I donno what's goin' on, but I don' think I'm very pretend. You're okay? You're not some sorta bad Angel, are you? Why would you tell me if you were a bad Angel? You could tell me you're the good Angel, and then turn out to be the bad Angel."
She'd moved to just within arms' reach. Fred wanted it to be the good Angel; as if everything would be okay with the world, as if he could fix it all. He was her hero, yes, but he wasn't perfect. She knew he wasn't perfect, but sometimes having a hero around was a good thing.
He didn't know if Illyria was simply obstinate about being Fred or if this was somehow real. Angel chose to let himself believe that his friend was somehow alive again. He did hug her, lifting her feet from the ground and twirling her in the air enthusiastically, even going as far as to kiss her cheek. If nothing else, Fred was back for the meantime, Angel was no longer in Hell, and though not a champion he was human and they could celebrate together by consuming large quantities of tacos.
There was only a smallish yelp as she was claimed in a hug, and twirled around like a doll, not that she minded. She freed her arms enough to hug back, giving him a kiss in return. Then it dawned on her.
"Angel, are you okay? It's not every day you hug someone. I didnt' know vampires could hug like this without squishing someone to death." She squirmed a little more to see if she could maybe put her toes on the ground for balance. Angel being this happy was almost disconcerting; he shouldn't be this happy. Angel was broodypants extraordinarie; not that she didn't like him being happy, but this wasnt' Angel, was it?
"Do you know who I am?" She tried to see his face. "Do you know who you are?"
Angel set Fred down. His brows knitted at the first question, the brooding look returned on the second. "You're really Fred. Right?"
His hands steadied her at the shoulders. He just wanted to look at her. It was good to see her again and know it was really the same girl that he had rescued from yet another Hell dimension. There were really too many of those. "This City place isn't like some kind of afterlife, is it? Because last time I checked I wasn't doing so well and then... Well, you're here..."
Angel just wasn't very good with the gentle let down of news.
Fred's head tilted slightly; there was only a hint of a smile on her face as she listened. She didn't understand; Wesley had had almost the same reaction, which was beginning to bother her. What had happened to her that would make them act as if she weren't herself? Her lips thinned for a moment; she wanted to ask, oh did she want to ask, but she knew that somehow it was probably best if she didn't. Then again, if she was here, maybe it wouldn't matter because she wasn't there anymore. But, what if this was part of her natural progression through time, but she doubted that because they acted as if this was all different.
"Angel, did you hit your head really hard? You and Wesley act as if somethin' happened to me. " Her hand went up. "I don't really wanna know what cause I don' wanna mess up time by knowin' somethin' I shouldn't. But, really, it's enough to give a girl a complex. And since when do you worry bout the afterlife. I didn' know vampires really worried about that."
"Fred?" How to break the news to her? Angel tried to open his mouth as he spoke interjecting a quiet Wesley's here? while she kept her temporal integrity. He was thankful that she didn't ask. He didn't want to say. Angel would have lied. But the vampirism was perhaps an important clarification.
...That he could mention later.
"How's Wes doing?" Both brows went up as he did his best to change the subject.
"I donno." Fred sighed. "Mind if we sit. It's been a crazy couple of days. I've been holed up in a church. You're sorta lucky you weren't with me, but I sorta wish you had been. Actually I wished everyone was there with me. You, Cordy, Wesley, Charles, Lorne. Sam - he makes me think of you and the boys, Pietro - he's fast; he's from a comic book..." There was a pause as she tried to think of everyone else she knew. "Inara, she's pretty - she reminds of Cordy a little. There's this really mean woman here who didn't seem to think I was that pretty. Not that I think I'm ugly, but it wasn't fun."
Yes, she was babbling, but she had so much to tell him, and she didnt' know if he was going to just disappear on her. Then again, he had been chasing her in her dream the last time she actually saw him. THat had ended her up in the City.
"Oh, get this! There's a Norman Bates here! A real Norman Bates. And Batgirl, and well, she's not really Batgirl. And..oh..and a Hulk! There's a Hulk here! Bruce Banner." Yes, she had gone the way of the geek.
"Wait a second, Fred. Bates? Psycho Bates? Are you okay, did he try to hurt you?" Angel instantly thought of possible explanations for this place. Fictional characters come to life, some sort of child's dream come true in the form of a pocket dimension? What did that make Angel Investigations? Because they were certainly real. It didn't add up. The brooding forehead expression returned to his confused face.
Fred had to laugh at this. She understood that Norman could be dangerous, very dangerous, but then again, so could Angel. Angel was a good guy now, so why couldn't Norman be?
"No. Don't worry. I'm very careful around Norman. I don't stick around if it looks like I'm going to be alone with him too long. I promise I won't shower at the Bates Motel, unless I'm with someone." Pause for the hint of a smile and maybe a blush. "Not that there's anyone for me to be with at the motel, but that's really not the point. I can take care of myself, Angel. I did it on Pylea for five years. Course, I did go a little addled in the brain, but I'm okay now. Right as rain."
She settled in one of the chairs and smiled up at him.
"On one hand, I'm glad you're here. On another, I wish you weren't. It means that you might be stuck, but I'm working on a possible equation to figure this place out. I don't know if you've noticed, but things move here. Whole neighborhoods move. Except for the motel and the Bates house." She'd have to add that to her notes later.
"Yeah, but still with the being a serial killer and everything. I mean, I know you can take care of yourself but you can't exactly trust him. Since... he's psycho." The thought of Fred willingly putting her life in danger had Angel just a little frustrated. He paced while he spoke, including in front of an open window. During the day. With light coming in.
Fred had been watching him; she'd seen him pace before. So the fact that he was walking in sunlight was slow to catch on, even if the brain it was catching on in was a rather fast one.
"Angel! Get away from the window!" She jumped up and started to work on the blinds. "The sun's out! You'll burn up!"
"Oh." As an after thought Angel opened up the curtain and looked outside as if to demonstrate his lack of burning. "Uh, funny story about that. I'm not actually a vampire anymore. See? Not burning up."
Fred stepped closer to poke at his cheek and shoulder. Well, they were still there. She wasn't dreaming, and there really was sunlight coming through the window. That was just...weird.
"So, you're human now? How? Why?" Fred looked out the window then peeked up at him. "You're human!" There was a good squeeze with the announcement.