Episode 1.4 "Entities"

"Fred?"

She blinked, "Willow?" she stared at her, confused, "What...why? I'm...what's going on?"

Willow tentatively looked over at Buffy, who also stared at her with a confused expression.

"What'd you do?!" Buffy asked.

"I...don't know," Willow answered, looking back at Fred.

"Well, I'm not exactly the brightest of the bunch sometimes," The Immortal said, "But I think the spell went wrong."

Willow threw him a quick glare before gently saying, "Fred," then, unsure of what else she could say, she settled for, "Are you okay?"

Fred's eyes were wide as she stared around, "What's happening?"

"War," Willow said casually, "But you...I don't know how you...oops?" she tried.

Buffy didn't even bother to turn around and fell to the ground seconds before a sword whipped through the air where her head would have been. She jumped back up and spun around, "Thanks, Dawn!" she yelled as she turned to fight the demon that had moments ago attempted to decapitate her.

Dawn nodded as she watched the last of the demons fall.

"Willow!" Buffy called, stabbing the demon through the middle, "Get her out of here!"

Willow reached out for Fred's arm and began pulling her back in the direction of the Hyperion.

"I'll stay," the Immortal told her as she walked away.

Willow nodded and continued walking, Fred following behind her quickly, while still watching everything that was going on. They got to the Hyperion as fast as they could, and burst through the doors.

Spike, Angel, and Faith stood around what Wllow could only assume was Xander.

"There, that should do it," Spike was saying.

"He's still bleeding!" Angel yelled.

"Well I'm sorry," Spike said sarcastically, "Why don't you try to bandage him while staring at nice warm, delicious, human blood?"

"Do you have any idea how gross that is?" Faith asked.

"Guys!" Willow interrupted.

They all turned towards her.

"Yeah?" Faith asked.

"Uh...we've got a problem," Willow looked over at Fred, who was standing beside her and staring around, looking scared.

Angel and Spike shared an annoyed glance.

"Stop it, Illyria," Angel said, "It's not funny."

Fred's looked over at him, "Angel?"

"Oh, that's cute," Spike rolled his eyes, "Let's change forms and mess with emotions because today hasn't been nearly complicated enough!"

"But..."

Angel took a few steps closer to her and stared directly into her eyes, "Stop it, now," he demanded, "That's not funny!"

"Angel, I don't know what you're talking about," she took a step back.

Angel took another step forward, "Illyria! I'm so not in the mood for you, that I swear to God, if you don't..."

"Angel!" Willow yelled as he raised his hand.

"What?!"

"She's telling the truth."

Angel looked over at her, "What?"

Willow pointed to her, "That's really Fred."

Angel dropped his hand, "Oh."

There was an awkward moment where both he and Spike felt equally stupid. It ended when Angel grabbed Fred and pulled her into a rib-crushing hug. Fred looked surprised, and then happy, and then pained as she realized how hard he was squeezing her.

"Angel," she sputtered, "Can't breathe!"

Angel let her go, "Sorry," he said, "It's just, you know, when people come back from the dead you tend to have strong emotions."

"You didn't hug me when I came back from the dead!" Spike objected, walking over to them, "'Course, if you had, I'd've thrown myself onto a stake."

"That's all it'll take?" Angel asked.

Spike ignored him and turned to Fred, "Its really you? Not Illyria?"

Fred slowly nodded, "I don't know who she is, but I don't think I'm her."

Spike smiled and reached out to hug her, "Missed you, pet." he said.

Fred pulled back and smiled, "Yeah, um. That's sweet you guys, really. I'm enjoying all the attention. But if you don't mind me asking, what the hell is going on?"

-----

Buffy was disturbed by the images she saw. Lifeless bodies lay everywhere .She turned just in time to see Kennedy's body fall to the ground, covered in blood. She gasped, and her hand flew up to cover her mouth.

"Oh God," she said, "Willow..."

Dawn ran up to her side, "Buffy, I think we should go. What's..." she followed Buffy's gaze, "Oh no."

Buffy shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes, "We should go?"

Dawn nodded, still looking at the dead slayer's body, "Yeah," she glanced at Buffy, "How're we gonna tell Willow?"

"God Dawn," Buffy said, walking forward and crouching next to her body, "I don't even want to think about it," she gently rolled her over, "Get the rest of the girls and head back to the Hyperion. I'll be right behind you."

Dawn nodded and walked away, leaving Buffy to think about how she was going to tell her best friend that another person she loved was dead.

-----

"So let me get this straight," Fred said, sitting cross-legged on the floor and sipping a glass of water, "I died, some ancient god took over my body, then she disappeared and I turned back into me?"

Willow nodded, "Something along those lines."

Fred took another sip and continued to look confused, "But how? And where's this 'god'?"

"Two wonderful questions," Angel said, looking over at Willow. He was seated at a table in front of Fred, tapping a pen impatiently.

Willow shrugged, "I told you. I don't know!"

Spike was pacing the room, his arms crossed over his chest and looking very peeved, "It hate the bloody sun!" he yelled, kicking a chair. How are we supposed to just sit here while knowing that they're out there in danger and fighting and possibly dying?" he flopped down into the chair opposite Angel and continued, "And now I'm out of cigarettes!"

"Well maybe if you didn't smoke them all so fast and stopped pacing..." Angel said.

Spike glared at him, "Shut it, Peaches!" Spike yelled, "And how can you just sit there so calmly Mr. Oh-Buffy's-cookie-dough! I love her and she's still cookie dough!" he mocked.

Angel reached behind him and held up a large bottle of Jack Daniels.

Spike blinked a few times, "Oh. Yeah, that helps."

Angel held the bottle out further, and Spike took it, bringing it to his lips and downing a few large gulps.

"You're taking the whole back-to-life thing pretty damn well, Fred," he said when he finished, handing the bottle back to Angel.

Fred shrugged, "I'm too confused to be upset."

Just then, the doors flew open, and the army of girls and a few other select individuals walked in. They looked bruised and wounded, but still victorious.

Everyone else stood at their appearance, Willow rushing over to get the first aid kit from Faith. The girls walked past them, Dawn stopping on her way and standing in between Spike and Fred.

"Kennedy's dead," she said quietly.

Spike's face fell, "Poor Red," he murmured, looking at Willow who was rushing around with bandages.

Angel and Fred looked confused, "Who?"

Dawn looked over at Riley and Buffy as they walked in, Riley carrying Kennedy's body as Buffy tried hard to keep tears from falling. He gently lay her down on one of the tables, and turned to Buffy.

"Thanks Riley," she said, almost in a whisper.

Riley nodded, "You okay?" he asked.

Buffy shrugged, "Better than Willow's gonna be."

Riley sighed and shook his head, not knowing what to say. Instead, he pulled Buffy into a hug, and she hugged back.

Both Spike and Angel felt a bolt of jealousy run through them, and they looked over at each other. They knew it was a comfort hug. Nothing more. But Spike's train of thought was going 'comfort hug', 'comfort kiss', 'comfort sex', and he could tell by Angel's face he was thinking something along those lines. And even though they were both at a silent war for Buffy, one thing was becoming clear: If Buffy couldn't be with Spike, he'd rather see her with Angel, and vice versa. Which confused things even more, and no one had the time to try to figure it out at that moment. Especially now since Willow was making her way back across the room.

The rest stood in an awkward, dismal silence as Faith strutted over.

"What's going...oh," she looked over at Buffy and Willow. Riley had walked away moments before and disappeared.

"Damn," Faith continued, shaking her head, "You lose everyone you love in this line of duty don't you," she looked down at her feet as sadness filled her eyes, and everyone who heard her silently nodded.

The Immortal stood next to the bar, talking quietly on a cell phone. When Spike saw him, so calm and smiling while the rest of the room was grieving, he felt a flash on anger, and caught Angel's eye, gesturing towards him.

Angel looked over his shoulder and back at Spike, before the two of them turned and made their way over to the Immortal.

He was just finishing his conversation when they reached him.

"That's nice," Angel commented, "You know, rest of the rooms in tears, you're over here chatting it up and laughing on the phone. What a supportive boyfriend you are!" he added sarcastically.

The Immortal glared at him, but slowly, it turned into an evil looking smirk, "Yeah, well while you two were sitting inside drinking, the rest of us were out fighting a war," he picked up his bottle of beer, "At least I'm useful."

Spike, who had taken a seat on one of the bar stools and had downed another shot of whiskey, slammed the shot glass down on the bar and turned to him.

"Look, I know it must be tough for you, being the rebound guy and all..." he started.

Angel bit his lip to keep from laughing. He could already tell this was only going to lead to a fight, but he didn't care. He'd been waiting for years to get back at the Immortal.

The Immortal looked taken a back for a moment before he said, "You're really one to talk about 'rebound guys', Spike."

Spike stiffened and moved to stand up, but Angel cut him off.

"Yeah, well, why exactly are you so interested in Buffy anyway? I mean, there's how many other girls out there..." he paused, "Why is it that you always seem to go after all the ones either Spike and I have already had?"

He knew he was crossing lines that he should've stayed far away from, but he was upset, angry and confused, also partially intoxicated, so he really wasn't caring.

The Immortal snorted, "Don't flatter yourselves," he said, taking another sip of his drink, "Just because all your girls happened to move on to bigger and better things, doesn't mean that I seek them out."

"Right," Angel said, "Out of all the women in Rome.."

Spike shook his head, "I don't get what the big deal is with you," he said, "What exactly do you have that either the poof or I don't?"

The Immortal shrugged, "The ability to go out during the day, a pulse," he stopped, "Oh yeah, and I haven't tried to kill her or rape her."

He hit a nerve in Angel, but the nerve he hit in Spike crossed a line, and he snapped. Before he could control himself, his fist hit the Immortal square in the jaw and he flew over the bar. There were loud crashes as glasses and bottles broke, and everyone in the room turned to stare. Angel was stared in shock and shook his head.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked as the Immortal picked himself up off the ground, "Neither Spike or I ever.."

Everyone in the room was staring at them, including Buffy, who had let go of Willow. Giles took Willow's arm and led her to a chair where she slipped down into it, not really hearing what was going on.

The Immortal had climbed back over the bar, and was wiping the blood from his lip, "Well," he said, looking down at the blood on his hand, "I see we're going to make this physical," he shrugged, "That's okay, I don't have a problem with that."

He raised his fist and aimed for Spike, who ducked. Instead, the Immortal hit Angel. Angel grabbed his nose and held it for a minute, as Spike stood back up and stared between them. There was a completely silent moment where you could have heard a pin drop, before all three of them were fighting.

It was all a blur to the spectators, who were all far too afraid to try and get in the middle of it. Buffy watched them for a moment, before she rushed to step in. Chairs and tables were being broken. At some point, Angel had been thrown into a wall, and was picking himself up as Spike and the Immortal rolled around on the floor. The Immortal's hands were around his neck, and Spike rolled his eyes.

"Oh brilliant, try to strangle a dead guy," he said between punches, "Good idea. Cut off my air supply, because I really need it!"

Buffy looked around for some help, "Faith!" she yelled spotting her.

Faith shook her head, "Hell no," she said, "I'm not getting in the middle of that!"

Buffy glared at her, "Please! Faith, there's no one else!"

At one point, Angel tried to get back in, but Buffy glared at him and he stepped back, looking completely ticked that he wasn't hitting anyone and Spike was.

Finally, the two girls managed to break them apart, Faith pushing the Immortal away, and Buffy hauling Spike back by his arm. She spun him around and glared at him, "I don't need this right now!" she hissed.

Spike's expression softened, "I know," he said, not meeting her eyes, "but you heard what he said."

Buffy sighed and shook her head, "Yeah," she said, turning back around.

The Immortal was arguing with Faith, and Buffy feared that if she didn't break it up, another fight would get going.

They stopped and looked over at her.

"I get the...history between the three of you," she said, looking between Angel and the Immortal, "But this fighting, it's a big no. We don't need it. Especially not right now."

"Right," the Immortal said, "but if you think I'll ever leave you in alone with either of them, especially him," he pointed to Spike.

"That's not your business," she said forcefully.

The Immortal shook his head, "Whatever," he said, "I just don't see how you can trust either of them after everything they've done."

"Oh yeah," Angel said, still trying to get his nose to stop bleeding, "And you're just a saint, right? Never killed anyone or hurt the innocent?"

The Immortal turned to make a smart remark, but Buffy stopped him.

"Stop it!" she yelled, "We're not here to talk about who killed how many people or who..." she caught herself and glanced at Spike, who was quick to look away, "The point is," she continued, "As far as I know, everyone in this room working towards the same goal here," she turned towards some of the other slayers, "And that goes for you girls, too. The teen-aged drama and bickering needs to stop. We're all here for the fight against evil..."

On the other side of the room, Andrew, who had been seated in a chair across a table from Dawn, leaned over and whispered, "Uh oh, I feel a big, motivational Buffy speech coming on."

Dawn rolled her eyes and sighed, "Best get comfy," she said, crossing her arms and slouching down in the chair.

"Speeches?" Fred, who had been seated down the table a bit asked, "She gives speeches?"

"Yeah," Dawn answered, "Big, long drawn out things that can possibly take over an hour. And they all say basically the same thing."

No matter what, some things would never change.

Buffy didn't have time to start a speech before Giles interrupted her, "Buffy," he said.

She stopped, looking annoyed that he'd interrupted her, "What?"

Giles hesitated, "Not that your lectures aren't...motivating," he started, "But we've got bleeding girls and emotional wounds to tend to..."

"Oh," Buffy said, glancing around the room at the very relieved looking gang, "Right. Sorry. I'll save the speech-ing for later then."

Dawn groaned, "Note to self, remember to bring iPod next time you plan to be around Buffy."

Andrew huffed, "No fair! I don't have an iPod!"

Buffy however, had made her way back over to Willow and was crouching down next to her.

"You okay?"

Willow shrugged, "Yeah," she said, "I just...need to be alone, I guess."

Buffy nodded, "Okay, we'll find you someplace."

Willow nodded back and wiped at her eyes. The Immortal took this opportunity to walk over and tap Buffy on the shoulder.

"Look," he said, "I'm sorry about the fighting. It was just..."

"I know," Buffy said, "Emotions run high. Especially in times like these," she stood back up.

Across the room, Angel and Spike both watched them with equal expressions of disgust.

"God, I hate him," Angel muttered.

Spike nodded, "I just want to snap his neck in half and watch him flop on the ground in pain!" he made some sort of snapping motion with his hands.

Faith grimaced, "Thanks for the visual."

Spike nodded, "No problem."

Angel groaned, "There's got to be someway to kill that guy," he said as he watched the Immortal and Buffy embrace.

"Perhaps you're not grasping the concept of the word 'immortal'," Xander said, sitting up on the table and wincing.

"Xander!" Faith said, resisting the urge to throw her arms around him, "My God, are you okay?"

"Yeah, great," Xadner said, "Just lost a huge amount of blood and broke most of my ribs, but great!"

"Yeah well," Faith said, gesturing over her shoulder with her head, "Looks like you're one of the lucky ones."

Xadner looked past her at Kennedy's body, and then over at Willow, "Poor Will," he sighed, "Think you can...help me walk over there," he swung his legs over the edge of the table with a hiss of pain.

Faith rushed forward, "Yeah, sure," she threw one of his arms over her shoulders and lifted him off the table.

"Ribs!" Xander yelled in pain.

"Oh, right," Faith said, adjusting so she was touching them, "Sorry."

"Yeah," Xander said as the two of them began to struggle towards Willow.

The two vampires watched them walk away, and then stood in silence.

Angel was the first to break it, "Rape?" he asked, still not sure how to approach it.

Spike shook his head, "Not now," he said.

"It's true?" Angel admitted that he was shocked.

Spike nodded.

As much as Angel wanted an explanation, he doubted that it would have helped the situation. And he figured now wasn't the best time for another argument.

"I'm going outside to have a smoke," Spike said, walking past Angel and toward the doors, leaving him to stand there wondering how anything could possibly get anymore complicated.

-----

Buffy stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her, leaving Willow in privacy. She turned around to find Giles staring at her expectantly.

Buffy sighed, "She's okay. She's not black and vein-y, so be thankful."

Giles nodded, "I think it'd be best for all of us if we went back to England tomorrow," he suggested, "Now that everything seems under control here."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed,"Yeah, that'd probably solve a lot of problems," she looked past Giles to where Angel stood, talking to Fred.

In her heart, Buffy knew that leaving wouldn't solve anything. Could possibly make things worse. But at least she'd but some distance between herself and the life she didn't want to remember. But deep down, she knew that it was impossible to run forever.

She turned back to Giles, "I'm gonna go outside for awhile," she said, "I need air."

Giles nodded again as she walked away. She pushed through the doors, and stopped. Spike stood there, idly smoking a cigarette and staring at the ground.

"Hey," she said.

He turned to her, "Hey," he said, glancing at her quickly and turning back around.

Buffy hugged herself and walked over next to him.

"Sorry about the tif with your super-honey earlier," Spike apologized.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "No you're not."

Spike considered this and then shrugged, "You're right, I'm not."

Despite herself, Buffy smiled, and Spike smiled back. And there was an awkward moment where they both started to wonder what could have been, before Buffy turned away.

Spike's smile fell, and he took another drag of his cigarette, "You heard what he said though."

Buffy nodded.

Spike looked over at her, "I can't believe you told him," he said, beginning to look pissed.

"I didn't!" Buffy said quickly.

"Then how'd he know?"

Buffy shrugged, "He's got 'sources'. He's the Immortal, remember?"

Spike exhaled smoke into the air, "How could I forget?" he asked sarcastically, "Makes himself all high and mighty, being "The Immortal," he complained, "Probably compensating for something."

He looked over at Buffy for an answer she refused to give, so instead they went back to the awkward silence.

"I'm leaving for England tomorrow," she said finally.

Spike looked over at her and hesitated, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Buffy was silent. She didn't know how to answer. A part of her wanted him there, and a part of her didn't. So she stood there quiet until Spike shook his head and threw his cigarette butt onto the ground.

"Buffy, I can't do this forever," he started, "You not knowing what you want, and me getting tossed around like garbage. I'm not doing the hot/cold thing again. I can't go through it twice. And as much as I hate Angel, he doesn't deserve this emotional roller coaster you're putting everyone on, either."

Buffy stared at him, completely taken aback.

Spike was still going though, "Buffy, I love you. And you know that. But until you've made up your mind," he stopped and sighed, searching for the right words, "Just...just don't. Because I cannot do this again."

He didn't even give her time to react before he spun around and walked back inside, leaving Buffy in shock. She stared after him for a moment, and then groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"God Angel" Spike said walking up to the other vampire "Can this get any more complicated?" Angel didn’t respond, he was only staring straight ahead. Spike followed his gaze and saw what had just come through the door.

Illyria.

                                   Written by: SeVinsIns