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[walkswithheroes]

When the last time you were stuck somewhere against your will maxed out at five years, a measly four months stuck in an alternate dimension is nothing. Especially not when there's a regular supply of money and a place to stay and someone Fred knows from home around. It's more than a few steps up from living in a cave.

Though, all of that doesn't mean that Darrow's stopped feeling like some weird place that Fred can't wait to figure out how to leave. Even without much success, she's kept up trying to figure Darrow out. Which is why she's holed up in a booth in a diner near Chelsea Cloisters, a small stack of books on the seat next to her while she flips through a book on magic that she's found in the back of one of Darrow's libraries.

There's a cup of coffee next to her that's gone cold, but every time she remembers to ask for a refill, Fred's distracted by something else in her book.

Just three more pages and she'll flag down a waitress.

Comments

[uncannyaim]

Andrea realizes pretty quickly she's not going to get Fred's attention by waving at her from across the diner, so rather than head to a booth of her own, she crosses to where Fred is sitting. For a second, she considers whether or not it's rude to just sit down without an invitation, but she figures Fred probably won't mind much.

"Hey," she says, sliding into the booth across from her, surveying the books she's got. Andrea is pretty sure the book Fred is currently reading is about magic and even though she's dealt with zombies and this place, the idea of magic is still so foreign to her. "Homework?" she asks with a smile.

[walkswithheroes]

She doesn't realize Andrea's even sat down until she's already talking, she's so into her current text.

"Hey," Fred replies with a sheepish grin, a little embarrassed that it took her so long to notice someone there. She's really got to start paying more attention.

"And it'd be homework for the strangest and most complicated class in the world, if it was."

[uncannyaim]

"Hey, I've heard they offer some pretty weird college classes now," Andrea answers with a grin. "I just took regular law classes, but you never know. Maybe there's a magic college out there somewhere."

The waitress comes over with a pot of coffee and Andrea looks at her, then at Fred again. "Is it okay that I just sat here?" she asks. "It looks like you're busy, I can find another booth if you want to be alone."

[walkswithheroes]

"No, I could probably use the break anyway. How's it going?" Fred replies, and she makes a mental note of what page she's on and closes her book. Not that she was doing any more than just reading it for reference anyway.

"Can I get a refill?" she adds, addressing the waitress, who casts a judging glace at Fred's books before refilling her cup.

[uncannyaim]

"Good," Andrea says, turning her cup over so the waitress can fill hers as well, then leans on the table, resting her chin in her hand. "Just got off work, actually, so now I have the afternoon to kill before I have to pick Clementine up from school."

She looks over the books again, waiting for the waitress to fill their cups and leave before she asks, "What sort of stuff are you reading?"

[walkswithheroes]

"A little of everything," she replies, pouring maybe more sugar than she actually needs into her mug, "Magic, a few on quantum subspace... I figure I'd better explore every possibility, you know?"

The strangest thing are all the theories by scientists and authors she's never even heard of. Most of the content is pretty much the same as what she's researched back home, but that doesn't make it any less freaky.

[uncannyaim]

"Every possibility for why we're here? Or... how, I guess?" Andrea asks, curious about what Fred might have come up with. The hows and whys of what happens here are completely beyond her, but she'd be interested in hearing what Fred might know, even if she doesn't really have any interest in leaving.

"Would it help to know that Spike and I sort of left last week?" she asks. "I mean, for some additional information?"

[walkswithheroes]

"You left?" Fred asks, eyes wide as she leans in, interested. She was about to get into just what kind of research she's been doing-- and was likely on the verge of a whole lot of rambling-- but this is way more important.

"How? And why am I only just hearing about it? This is big."

She should be taking notes.

[uncannyaim]

"Sort of," she says, because she still isn't completely sure how it works. Most of the time, she's sure it happened in an instant, that she and Spike never actually left, but it felt like longer and now that she's talking to Fred, she wishes she'd looked at the clock when they came back.

"We were at my place and then we were suddenly back where I came from," she says. "For a couple of hours, actually, but when we came back it was still the same night. I'm not sure how much time passed here, but when we were there it was definitely two or three hours."

[officerjason]

Sometimes it worries Jason how much easier being a cop in this weird bizarro town is than being a cop back in, well, his own weird bizarro town. Right now, he's actually on a real coffee break, heading into a diner where no one knows him as anything but Officer Stackhouse.

Being Officer Stackhouse sure beats being Jason Stackhouse.

He spots Fred, a familiar face, and is about to greet her when he see all those books.

And then he can't move. He's slammed in the gut by the weird feeling he's seen this before.

He's seen this before, except-- the edges of his vision are rounded out and the light is warm, and he's pulling her away from books, kissing her mouth, keeping her close.

"...holy shit," he whispers, and then the feeling passes.

[walkswithheroes]

Fred looks up only because the waitress passes, and she remembers just in time that she wanted a refill on her coffee. She flags down the waitress, and only as her cup's being filled does she notice Officer Stackhouse. She hasn't really talked to— or seen him, for that matter— since all that weird stuff happened on New Year's Eve, but it's still good to see a familiar face.

She waves, casting a small smile in his direction.

[officerjason]

"Fred," he breathes, and he doesn't sit down across from her. Instead, he takes a knee beside her booth, reaching up to cup her face with one roughened palm. He wants to recreate that feeling.

He doesn't know what the hell he's doing, just that something finally feels like home. Fuckin' magic.

[walkswithheroes]

"Hi?" Fred says, confused, but she doesn't move away or try to budge his hand or anything. There's something really weird about this, and she can't put her finger on it. It was the same on New Year's Eve, and she couldn't figure out just what was going on then either.

"There's... something really weird going on here, isn't there? Like, not just Darrow-weird, but really weird-weird, right? It's not just me?"

Because when a police officer you barely know suddenly kneels down in front of you for no reason, it shouldn't feel normal. But somehow, it kinda does.

[officerjason]

"Yeah," Jason agrees, his thumb stroking the softness of her cheek. "Yeah, it's real weird. And I think I know how to get some answers." He slides his free hand around to the small of her back and pulls her forward, down to him.

He kisses her then, sure and sweet.

That memory light explodes in his chest for a moment.

[walkswithheroes]

Fred kisses him back, right there in the middle of the diner, because it feels right and she's not sure why. But there's something ridiculously familiar about all of this. Suddenly she's somewhere she barely remembers, sitting on a floor surrounded by books, and he's there, just like this.

Maybe she's going crazy.

But when she pulls away, her heart is racing and her face feels flushed and hot.

"That wasn't the first time we've done that," she says, and it's not a question. She's sure that wasn't the first time. Somehow.

[officerjason]

"No, it wasn't," he whispers. The ground might as well be moving under his knees, the way everything's spinning around and making him dizzy. "Baby, I know you."

He drops back on his heels for a few seconds, thinking it over, and then climbs into her booth, kissing her again. This time the kiss is hard and searching, seeking out that feeling again, the familiar taste of her mouth driving him forward.

[walkswithheroes]

He climbs into the booth and she slides back to make room without thinking, her mouth warm against his as she kisses him back. It's natural and familiar and Fred doesn't question it, at least at first. Her books and fresh cup of coffee are forgotten on the table, and she's find it it hard to care.

Fred knows it's kinda crazy to think, but she can't help but think that he almost feels like home. There's something about snow, and shoes that pinch her feet, and it's like when something's right on the tip of your tongue and you just can't put your finger on it, a fleeting memory that Fred can't quite grasp.

She pulls away again, and pushes him away, palms on both his shoulders as she slides further into the booth.

"Okay, but how do you know me? This doesn't make any sense. I know that I've met you before— before Darrow, I mean— and I know that we've... I know that we've done that before, but how?"

[bloodyanimal]

Though it might seem unpleasant to her, what had drawn him into the diner that evening was the faint hint of her scent he'd picked up as he'd been strolling past.

Sliding into the booth across from her, he'd picked up one of the laminated menus from behind a sticky napkin holder, frowning as he wondered aloud, "They got wings, you reckon?"

[walkswithheroes]

She doesn't notice Spike until he's already sitting, and looks up fondly from her book once he speaks. Just about anyone else and she probably would've jumped clean out of her seat.

"I never really get past the breakfast menu," she admits, and it probably doesn't help that they'll serve it all day, "The pancakes are really good, though. They're like heaven in starch form."

[bloodyanimal]

"Can't say I know too much about heaven, love," he smirked, nailed painted with chipping black varnish tapping against the tabletop as he leaned over to get a look her book.

"So, what's got you occupied today?"

[walkswithheroes]

"Magic. Again," Fred replies, and if she sounds exasperated, it's because she feels like all the research she's doing doesn't amount to much more than beating her head against a brick wall. She's not getting anywhere and nothing makes any more sense to her now than it did when she sat down.

"It's starting to seem like all of this is pointless."

[bloodyanimal]

"If anyone can find a way out of here, love, I 'spect it's you," he said, and though he wanted her to be happy, there was a growing part of him that knew his decision to stay or go wouldn't be an easy one. Knowing what was waiting for her back in her world, he couldn't chance it unless he could take Andrea back with him.

"But you're right. I wouldn't bet you're gonna find your answer in one of them books. Seems a bit too easy, yeah?"

[walkswithheroes]

"You're probably right," Fred says, "Unfortunately."

Even though she's had to cross-reference magic books with physics texts and the magic texts aren't the easiest to find in Darrow. More and more, she wishes Wesley was around; he's the one who's good at all this. Maybe she should ask Tara for her input.

"That doesn't mean I'm giving up."

[bloodyanimal]

"'Course you're not," Spike said, pausing to order a plate of cheese fries when the waitress wandered over.

"You wouldn't be you, if you did." He'd met few people in all his years with as much determination as this one little girl.

[walkswithheroes]

Fred tries for a smile at that, but comes up just short.

"So what happens if I do figure it out?" she asks, "Something tells me you're probably not as keen to get back there as I am."

She can't imagine he'd want to deal with the possibility of being non-corporeal again. Even if they can't be completely sure it'd happen.