A Step Out Of Time

Disclaimer: This story and its text belongs to me, along with the idea of it. The characters within it belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. No monies are being made from its creation and it is entirely for entertainment purposes

A Step Out Of Time

Fred looked around the theatre lobby in surprise and slight awe. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before, her childlike excitement bubbling up inside of her as they all made their way to the theatre seats and settled down. Fred sat in front of Angel and Cordy, flanked either side by Wesley and Gunn.

Angel leaned forward from behind and whispered in her ear apologetically.

"Sorry they're not closer. Getting five seats together..." Angel trailed off.

Fred felt her face flush as his cool breath tickled the hairs on the back of her neck. She was broken out of her illicit reverie by Wesley’s response. He had heard Angel’s quietly spoken words and turned to face him.

"Don't be silly. Best place. We get the whole panorama from here." Wesley assured him.

Moments later the low hum of conversation that filled the room settled down to perfect silence, as the curtains opened and the ballet began. Fred glanced at Gunn’s face shyly. They had been flirting with each other all day. His attention was on the stage so she was able to watch him unnoticed. He wasn’t Angel, but then no one would ever be.

Fred felt the well-known ache that she always felt when her thoughts went down this path…Angel. She was wasting her heart on a man who would never love her, not at least in the way she loved him. She thought back to the time in Pylea when he had saved her from certain death. He had been her knight in a fairytale. Ok, maybe Angel was a little more demony than the stereotypical hero, but that had never been a factor in her feelings for him. Fred tried to concentrate on the stage; soon she was lost in the beauty of the ballet and the skill of the performers.

Angel looked at Cordy and sighed, he had hoped that she would appreciate the ballet, but only several minutes into the performance, her head had lolled back and she was now gently snoring.

Angel turned his attention back to the stage, a look of concentration on his face as he studied the main ballerina on stage…. something was not quite right.
The lights went up and the applause thundered through the theatre. Cordy was jolted out of her sleep, she sat bolt upright, looking around in confusion.

“I loved it,” she muttered sleepily.

Angel looked at her sardonically.

“It’s just intermission,” he replied.

The group made their way out of the auditorium, assembling near the bar. Gunn was the first to speak.

"I say it once, and gloat all you want: these guys are tight, and I am trippin' out." He said.

“They certainly live up to their reputation. Has the choreography changed much since…?”
Wesley asked Angel.

Angel looked at him. “No nothing’s changed,”

“Well, it’s wonderful they’re able to…”

He cut Wesley off. “No I mean nothings changed. These are the same dancers I saw before,”

Fred looked at him in confusion.

“That’s impossible. We’re watching the same troupe you saw in nineteen-ninety?” she asked

“I think he said eighteen-ninety,” said Gunn.

"Oh. Okay, that's much more impossible," said Fred.

"So, somebody wanna tell me how we're watching a show starring people who should have died sixty years ago?" asked Angel.

They all exchanged looks, but none of them were eager to offer up a theory.

"Well, it's a puzzler. Are there snacks?" asked Cordelia.

“So what are we thinking? Vampires?” Wesley asked.

“Well, they’re not a deeply tanned bunch,” shrugged Cordelia.


"That would explain the precision and the athleticism. I mean some of those jumps were...” Gunn trailed off self-consciously at the others expressions. “You know, I was cool before I met you all." He finished.

"Dancing vampires. Who's not scared?" enquired Cordy, mockingly.

Angel looked at them all. “Not it. I’d know I’d sense it,”

"Even all the way back there...with the - panoramic view?" asked Wesley.

“We should check it out,” said Angel

“Maybe after the show we should head backstage?” suggested Fred.
Angel looked at Fred

"I was thinking now. You guys should go back. I'll snoop."

“I have no problem with that,” yawned Cordelia “The magic of the ballet not really getting to me and I seriously need to catch up on my sleep,”

"How will the dancers keep time without your rhythmic snoring?" asked Wesley.

Cordelia frowned at him and turned to head back to her seat, as the lights flickered and there was a soft chiming to signal the end of the intermission.

“Don’t think that’s not coming back to haunt you,” she said to Wesley as she passed him.

“Go,” insisted Angel to the rest of them.

Gunn turned to Fred.

“Hurry,”

Fred played nervously with the strap of her dress.

“Er um, I think I’ll stay and help Angel with the snooping,” said Fred.

Gunn looked a little disappointed, “Ok, if you’re sure?” he asked.

Fred nodded and followed Angel as he walked off.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Fred and Angel slowly descended some stairs. They both stopped in their tracks as they spotted a huge security guard standing in front of the backstage. Angel cursed under his breath.

“That’s an awful lot of muscle for a ballet company,” said Angel.

“Kinda makes you wonder just what they have to hide,” Fred turned to Angel “Should I distract him? So that you can slip by unnoticed or something?” she asked.

"Don't be stupid. I'm that guy and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen is making eyes at me? It's either bachelor party or a scam."

Fred felt the breath leave her body. Did he just say what she thought he’d said? She had to know that it wasn’t her mind playing tricks with her.

“What did you just call me?” she asked hesitantly.

Angel groaned inwardly he had called her beautiful. He decided to cover his slip of the tongue and play dumb.

"I'm sorry. You're not stupid."

Fred wasn’t willing to let it go, did Angel really think her beautiful?

"No. After that." She pressed.

Angel pretended not to hear, desperate for a diversion of any kind right now.

"I think I'll just have to go with my patented sudden burst of violence,” said Angel.

“Wait, we could try something else,” said Fred as she approached the guard and tried to bribe him with a twenty.

The guard laughed and was in the middle of handing the bill back to Fred when Angel punched him hard, sending him unconscious to the floor.

"Okay. That's how we do it," said Angel smugly as he opened the door for he and Fred to walk through.

Fred looked at Angel and back at the long endless corridor they now faced.

“Don’t remember the theatre looking this roomy when we drove by it earlier,” said Fred.

"It's clearly a spell, or a time flux, or something. I don't think we wanna be rushing in here."

“Maybe we should go get the others for backup maybe?” asked Fred.

They both turned to go back through the door they had entered only to find it no longer there, another eternal corridor in its place.

“Works in theory,” said Angel.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

They walked down the corridor, past the many doors.

“Shall we pick one?” he asked as he opened the next door that they came to.

They both entered the poorly lit room.

“This is her dressing room,” stated Angel.

“The prima ballerina?” asked Fred.

“It’s unchanged,” he answered.

Fred walked over to the dressing table and sat down. She picked up a little silver cross from its surface. She held in up, glancing at herself in the mirror. An unexpected heat spread through her body, starting at the tips of her fingers and settling between her thighs.

What was the matter with her? she wondered as she turned to look at Angel.

“She would wait for him here,” Fred said, frowning slightly as the words passed her lips.

Angel looked tense and uneasy.

“It’s, it’s very warm,” he replied.

Warm didn’t even begin to cover how Fred was feeling as her eyes rested on Angel. Her lips parted slightly, her breathing becoming shallower.

“I feel it,” she whispered huskily, glad that Angel had no idea exactly where she was feeling it.

“Something happened in here,” he said.

Fred stood up and looked at Angel, sure he must know what she was feeling inside. She walked over to him; they faced each other in the darkened room.

“Angel?”

“Yeah,”

Fred ran a hand down her waist and rested it at her thigh. Looking up at him, she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue.

“I want… you to undress me,”

Angel looked her stunned.

“You want me to what?” he barely got the words past his tongue.

Fred was slightly horrified at her articulated words, but her usually intelligent brain refused to cooperate, as she opened her mouth again.

"It's just another costume. I want you to see who I really am. You're the only one who can."

Fred moved closer to him, they were almost touching. He could smell the fragrance of her skin and the scent of something else more primal…her arousal. It stirred his senses as he breathed her in. He shook his head slightly to clear the sensual spell that was taking over him.

"I... - This isn't us Fred,” Angel licked his lips as he studied her own, just inches from his face. “We’re acting this out. Someone is..."

Her sense of reality surfaced once more as she looked at Angel in embarrassment. She felt sure that her cheeks were on fire.

“Oh my God, did I just ask you to take off my clothes?” she asked shamefaced.

Angel wrapped his arms around her, pressing his body to hers. "Is that what you want?" he purred
seductively in her ear.

Fred’s head reared back at the softly spoken words, seeing the desire in his eyes mirroring her own.

"Please... I..." she managed.

What she had meant to come out as a denial had ended up sounding like a plea, even to her ears.

“You want me to make love to you right here?” he asked.

Fred had trouble containing the groan that rose to her throat at the imagery those words evoked.

“You know I do,” she replied.

Angel ran a long cool finger down her cheek.

"But you're afraid." He stated.

Fred was starting to wish that he would just stop talking and kiss her. It was all she had ever wanted, but it seemed they had a part to play in some unknown mystery.

"What if he finds us?" she asked.

"I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of anything." He said defiantly.

Fred raised her head to whisper in his ear.

"I'm only alive when you're inside me."

Her words and warm breath drove him almost insane. He was struggling to keep his inner demon leashed within. He pulled her against him, leaving Fred in no doubt of his need for her.
Fred could feel his hardened cock as it pressed against her belly. She instinctively strained closer to it, causing friction between them. She wondered how it would feel to touch it. There were too many clothes between them she thought in frustration, but she sighed contentedly as Angel bent his head and touched his lips to hers.

As the kiss deepened he traced the shape of her mouth with his tongue, she parted her lips to allow him entry. Fred was conscious of his hand as it explored the curve of her breast. He found her nipple and rubbed the tip through the material of her dress, teasing it to hardness.

Fred groaned as a flood of moisture soaked her panties, making her wish that she was free of the confines of her clothes and that Angel would undress her as she had begged him to.
His other hand held her face as he plundered her mouth with hot passionate kisses. She didn’t know how much longer her legs would continue to hold her body. Then suddenly Angel’s head snapped back and Fred was deprived of his touch.

Angel looked at Fred in bewilderment.

"Ah! Fred.”

“Yes?” her passion-fuelled brain had trouble forming rational sentences

“I’m sorry,” Angel apologised.

Fred tried not to be hurt. She didn’t want him to be sorry for what they had just shared. She certainly felt no remorse for what had almost happened.

"No. We really should try to get out of here." She replied, hoping that she sounded as indifferent as she didn’t feel.

“Yes,” was all Angel managed to get past his lips as they moved towards each other again.
The only sound that could be heard in the room was their laboured breathing and the faint strains of music from far away.

“I don’t think its working Angel,”

“I know, right…” he replied still not moving anywhere.

They went back into each other’s arms, as Angel traced kisses along her naked shoulder and her long graceful neck. Both of them tried to move towards the door in unison. Fred blindly fumbled behind her for the door handle.

“Open, you damn door,” she cried desperately.

“Kinda hard,” said Angel.

“I-er noticed that,” blushed Fred.

Angel reached behind her, keeping her body close to his as he turned the door handle and they almost fell through the open door. Angel quickly slammed it shut behind them.

“What was that?” asked Fred, her face flaming, barely able to look at Angel.

"There's spirits in there. Energy trapped in time. It took us over." He replied.

“Scary, good job the effects wear off straight away,” she breathed.

Angel looked down at his body, his raging erection stood out against the dark material of his pants. He quickly shed his jacket and folded it over his arms to hide his reaction to their encounter as he furiously counted down from ten in his mind.

“Yeah, good thing,” mumbled Angel.

TBC