Ghost
by Hjmugillecuty

RATING: FRC [GF]

SUMMARY: Did Lilah only visit Wesley in "Cavalry"?

SPOILERS: Through Season 4 finale

PAIRING: Wes/Fred, mention of W/L

DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me; they belong to their original creators (Mutant Enemy, the WB and others) and I make no profit.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I did originally write this right around when "Salvage" aired. So anything related to what Skip said is pure coincidence. Huge thanks to Lara for the beta. Archive permission granted to Whole New World and Blue Moon Rising. Enjoy.

The others had gone, leaving Fred and Lorne alone in the lobby. They turned to each other as Lorne commented, "Well, peach pit, what should we do now? Everyone's gone and left us all alone."

Fred replied, "I suppose we could do something with Lilah's body. She's just lying in the basement, without a head, wrapped in plastic."

Lorne nodded. "I guess we should bury her."

The two of them went downstairs, stopping and looking at the work of both Angelus and Wesley. The neck wound from Angelus, the beheading by Wesley. Fred just stared at the body, hardly believing that this had recently been Lilah Morgan, the sworn enemy of them and everything they had believed in. Evil. As she continued staring, suddenly she heard a voice behind her.

"C'mon, sweetie. That body's not gonna bury itself."

Fred turned in surprise to see what had to be a phantom – the ghost of Lilah standing behind her.

"You're dead," she stated.

Lorne laughed and replied, "Yeah, she's dead. Just look at her."

"No, no, Lorne. Can't you see?" Fred motioned to the woman behind her.

"What, peach pit?" he responded.

"Lilah!"

"Of course I see Lilah."

"No, twig," spoke the ghost again. "He can't see me. Only you can see me. He can't hear me, only you can. And I have some things to say to you. Might want to get the green guy out of here before he thinks you are totally, totally wacko."

Fred nodded her head, still not sure of what she was seeing, but this was a conversation she needed to have alone. She turned to Lorne. "Do you think I could have a few minutes? You know...with Lilah."

"Honey, she's dead."

"I know, but I…I just need to work a few things out."

"All right, honey. I'll be upstairs." Lorne left but only went halfway up the stairs so he could listen. He had a feeling he might need to know what was going on to tell Wesley.

Once Fred had seen Lorne start up the stairs, she turned back to the ghost. "What do you want?" she asked defiantly.

Lilah was silent for a second. "Hey, twig, no need to get upset." She lifted her hands in a classic 'calm down' gesture. "There were just a few things I needed to do. I get a little personal time after I die, and then I gotta get back to work. And believe me, I am not wanting to spend that personal time with you. But I have to."

"Okay, what do you have to say?"

Fred leaned against the table, then turned and looked at the body lying there. Instead she went and sat in an available chair.

Lilah looked down at her own body, still lying wrapped in plastic but headless. "You know, I really hated that outfit. If I had to be killed, couldn't I have been killed in something nice?"

"Lilah, I really don't think you're here to discuss fashion."

"No, I'm not. But I'm dead; give me a little leeway."

"Okay, so what do you want to talk to me about?"

"I think you know what I want to talk to you about, Winifred."

"Wesley?"

"Yes. I want to talk to you about Wesley. I want you to do me a favor. Not an evil one. I just want you to take care of him."

"What?" Fred asked, incredulous.

"I want you to take care of him. That's all. I mean, I couldn't do it. He's only ever wanted you to."

"Really?"

"Sweetie, you really are dumber than you seem. Wesley has been madly, deeply in love with you since the day he met you."

"He has?" Fred's eyes opened in shock. She knew he was in love with her – he'd admitted it. But she hadn't realized it had gone back that far.

"Yeah," Lilah responded. "The day he met you. And what did you do? First you had the big painful crush on Angel. That didn't work out; Buffy came back from the dead. That was a major defeat for the evil side. So Wesley then thought, 'Hey, maybe I have a chance. Maybe I'll ask her to dinner.' But no, then Billy got out, infected Wesley. He attacked you and felt so incredibly guilty about it. So he waited to make his move. And when he was ready to, you fell for the tall dark warrior, Charles Gunn. He never even had a chance with you, did he? You never gave him one."

"I didn't know," Fred said, very upset at how her life was being dissected. "How was I supposed to know that he was in love with me?"

"Well, how about some of the things he said while under Billy's influence? From what I heard, it was jealous lover stuff."

"Yes. But I thought it was part of him being infected. I didn't realize he meant any of it."

"Well, he did. You never gave him the chance. And because of that, because he was hurt, betrayed by you and Gunn, he didn't tell anyone about the prophecy. Not one word because he was upset. So what did he do? Took it all upon himself. That's the kind of guy he is, though. Takes it all upon himself to save the child. Got his throat slit for it, lost all his friends, including you. And that is why he chose me. He didn't want to choose me, believe you me. When we first fell into bed together, neither of us expected it. Neither of us expected it to happen again. I kept thinking you guys were gonna welcome him back with open arms. But you never did. So he kept falling. Falling into grey. Grey that will never be pure white again. But, hey, I had fun."

"Lilah, are you trying to make me feel more guilty?"

"No. That's not my goal. Like I said, this is personal business. No evil involved here. He'll be happier with you. You that he's always wanted. You that he thought of while he was with me. I took advantage of that sometimes, but it hurt. To know that he didn't want me. So I want you to take care of him for me."

"I…I don't know."

"Fred, honey, you know. And believe me, one of these days you're going to thank me for having been with him. Trust me."

Fred squirmed, a little upset by that comment. "What?"

"Okay, we'll be all pure and nice for you, twig. There are a couple of other things I need you to do for me too."

"Such as?"

"In Wesley's wallet, there's a dollar bill that belongs to me. I want you to take it from him. Don't let him know you're doing it. Just take it out and get rid of it. And maybe he'll forget about it."

"A dollar bill?" Fred repeated, confused. "How will I know which one?"

"It has his signature on it."

"Why?"

"We made a bet. I won. I made him sign the dollar. It would always remind him of me. So, if you and he want to be happy, get rid of it."

"Anything else?"

"Yes," Lilah said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Don't tell him you talked to me."

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to tell him that anyway since I'm really not sure if I'm actually talking to you…"

"You are. But don't tell him I loved him, okay?"

"You what?!"

"I loved him. I didn't think I would. I didn't even believe I could. But, somehow in the middle of it all, I fell in love. It was the highlight of my day to talk to him on the phone, to sneak over to his house on my lunch hour, to be there when he came home from demon hunting. But when it came down to it, it would never have worked. He's good, I'm evil, and never the twain shall meet. You're good, and he's good, so you should be fine. He thinks I didn't love him. He wouldn't believe I was capable of it. So, don't tell him. Let him continue to believe what he believes, and then he'll forget."

"Lilah, I…"

"Twig, I want him to be happy. He'll be happy with you. You're the one he's always wanted. Always dreamed of his entire life even when he didn't know it was you. And I think you're the same way. I think he's what you've always wanted. Well, that's pretty much all. Can you do all that for me?"

"Yes, Lilah, I can. I can."

"Good. I'm taking that as a promise. We're making a contract here. If you don't follow through, well, there could be trouble ahead."

"Aren't we going to have trouble ahead anyway?"

"Pretty much. You know, it's funny how these things go. One little decision changes everything."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I wouldn't be dead if Wesley hadn't brought me back here. That couldn't have happened if he hadn't saved me from the Beast, which he wouldn't have done if I hadn't been sleeping with him, which never would have occurred if he hadn't lost all of his friends because he took Connor. He wouldn't have kidnapped Connor if he had told someone about the prophecy, which he would have if you hadn't chosen Gunn. And I honestly believe that wouldn't have happened if Billy hadn't infected Wesley. That wouldn't have taken place if Angel hadn't saved Billy from his fiery cage because I was torturing Cordelia. So, you could say it's my own fault I got killed, couldn't you?"

Lilah stopped, hearing an alarm in her head. She looked around quickly. "I need to go. Personal time's over. I'm back to work."

Fred looked up at her. "Lilah, we're going to miss you."

Lilah laughed. "I'm evil, remember? I'm not your friend."

"I know. But, you've been around as long as I can remember. You've been our antagonist. And you've been Wesley's friend. And we're going to miss you. But don't worry, I'll take care of him."

Fred stood with Lilah's ghost still watching and walked over to the wrapped body and closed the plastic over it. When she turned, Lilah's ghost had disappeared.

"Goodbye," she whispered into the air and then called up the stairs. "Lorne! Let's do this."

Lorne came downstairs, a little teary-eyed. He had missed most of the conversation, having only been able to hear Fred's side, but he understood her need to say goodbye. Together, they picked up the body, carried her upstairs and out into the garden. There, with dented shovels, they dug a grave, six feet deep, and buried Lilah Morgan.

The moment they finished covering her body with dirt, the sun came out. Lorne dropped his shovel to give Fred a hug.

"They did it! They did it!" he cried.

"They did," Fred said before her voice dropped to a whisper. "He did."

© July 2003

Return to Fanfic