A trance like state, almost hypnotizing, such a power was taking over Fred, she felt drawn to it.

The mysterious casket that had only been delivered mere minutes ago, she felt a pull, she had to investigate, examine it.

She held her hand out in front of her and walked towards the large gem placed on top of it, she felt dizzy, put not enough to worry, it was probably old and full of magic.

"Hey, Fred." She heard a male voice and a slam from the door, followed by loud footsteps.

She was snapped out of it almost instantly, she shook her head slightly. "Huh?"

What just happened?

She turned to look at the entrance and saw Spike standing in front of it, his arms folded and he was tapping his foot, he looked angry.

"What's wrong, Spike?" She asked kindly.

"Angel's got me on some bloody field mission, on my own, the selfish bastard is watching a hockey match, a bloody hockey match. He claims he's brooding." His accent was strong and probably turn-on for most women.

"Oh, well, erm, I'm sorry to hear that." Fred didn't really know what to say, Angel often went on missions on his own, she didn't think it to be too much of a big deal but Spike was different to most.

"So, I was wondering if you had any special weapons that would make the job be done quicker? You know, I wanted to watch that hockey match too, but no, I've gotta go kill some bloody demon."

"Well, I have one but it needs to be tested, by me."

"Great then! You can come with me, pet."

Fred's lips parted slightly. "But erm, that's not really my department."

"Please?" He faked a pout.

"I, er," She paused mid-sentence to glance back at the casket. "Well, alright. Knox, put the casket in storage and I'll check it out later, thank you."

The obidient lab assistant obliged and started to wheel it out, too Fred, he looked almost disappointed but she didn't pay much attention, instead, she took off her lab coat and grabbed her jacket. "The weapon is in my office in the cabinet, go get it, please, Spike?"

He nodded his head once, excited. "You got it, boss."

So he did, he climbed up the few steps that lead to her office and obtained the weapon, it was a medium sized gun. "Doesn't look that special."

"It's capable of electricuting a demon and liquifying it's insides to a point where the entire body could explode but there might be a glitch, I'm not sure if I got the voltage to the correct level, might be too high, i guess-"

She looked towards Spike, who just looked majorly confused by her words, she knew that look, she got it off most of her friends, she did tend to ramble on a bit too much.

"It'll work." She clarified.

"That's good." They both grinned at each other before exiting the lab together.

Wolfram and Hart resembled a large labyrinth, there where so many floors and corridors, at first, it was hard for Fred to navigate around but she found the floor plans to the building and made a simplified version and put it into a map for everyone, they soon got the hang of things, they where really appreciative.

Once they came to the exit, Harmony wished them luck - she was really itching for an escape, she wanted to kill a demon too - and bid them farewell for now, Spike waved her off but Fred was kinder than that, regardless of how annoying Harmony was, they where 'gal pals'.

It was night time, darkness fell, the only source of light being from the street lamps, that was more than satisfactory for Spike but Fred felt differently about the dark, she wasn't a vampire, she feared what lurked within the shadows, she wasn't naive and she was certainly no fool.

"So, where is the demon?" She asked, too break the silence.

"God knows, Angel said too find it."

"Well, that's helpful."

-w-

An hour or so later, they heard a woman screaming, that more or less indicated there was a demon around, Fred and Spike followed the shrieking and they where lead down an alleyway, it was even darker, there where no streetlamps or people.

"Hey!" Spike yelled, as he caught the demon about to kill the woman, it's head instantly jolted to look at them.

It was monstrous, and frankly, it was ugly too, green coloured skin, huge body size, claws and razor sharp teeth, with red eyes. It scared Fred slightly.

Spike took the gun out of his inside jacket pocket and tossed it towards Fred, she just about caught it but her hands where shaking slightly.

He was given the chance to attack, so he did, Spike leapt onto his back and the woman ran off, she was lucky. "Thank you, thank you." She told Fred, as she passed.

Spike was throwing punches, kicking him, throwing him into walls but the demon got a few lucky shots in there too.

"Fred, now." He yelled.

"Oh god, erm, okay." She held the gun in front of her face, pointed at the demon, she found the perfect aim and shot, the electrified bullet escaped but it seemed to be moving slower, in fact, everything seemed to be moving slower, including time itself.

Spike was halfway through standing up and Fred just about to lower the gun when the demon waved his hand in mid-air, Fred and Spike turned to look at each other, but soemthing caught there attention, a portal opened, the demon jumped into it and time returned to normal.

But the portal remained open, it flashed orange and yellow lights and it started sucking, a powerful wind emerged from it and Fred was forced to the ground, she was panicing, not another portal, this was the most scared she'd been in her life.

And Spike saw this.

She was scratching the ground, trying to hold onto anything, Spike even tried to get to her side but he was flat on his stomach too.

"No, no, no." Fred was muttering under her breath.

"Fred!" She heard Spike yell but she was too paniced to do anything, except try to hold on to dear life, she couldn't go into another portal, not again.

But it was inevitable, the gust of wind was getting violet and the sucking power was getting stronger, she was forced in, along with Spike.

They rolled out on the other side, there bodies collided and crashed into each others, they landed flat on there backs, Fred felt alot of pain when she landed, Spike not that much.

"Fred, you alright?" He said roughly as he pulled himself off, he darted towards the portal but it closed, Fred just lay there.

"Damn it." He exclaimed. "Wait, Fred."

He darted to her side and fell onto his knees, he knew of her past and her history in Pylea, this wasn't going to be easy. "You alright, pet?"

"I, erm," She was shaking, Spike helped her sit up but she didn't want to stand, she just brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, her arms wrapped around her legs.

"Spike," She looked up to the sky, which was shining brightly, the birds where singing and nature around them was grown beautifully. "You're not burning, we're..."

She closed her eyes, in attempt to calm down. "We're in an alternate universe."

"It's okay, love." He wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her into him. "We're going to be okay, I'll get you out of here, I promise."