9:
“We should get back to the hotel,” Buffy said.
“Yeah,” Willow agreed. “Poor Dawn is there all alone with Andrew.”
“So, B.” Faith said. “You wanna tell us what happend in that ohter warehouse?”
“Oh, there was just this guy that claimed to be guarding the barer of the Devine One. It’s was a fairly strange experience.”
“Devine One?” Angel asked. “Think it’s a new big bad?”
“Don’t know. Maybe. Probably should’ve checked it out a little more, but had other things to do.”
“Wanna go back and check it out now?” Angel asked.
Buffy shook her head. “Still recovering from a head wound. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Whatever,” Angel said, heading towards his car.
“That guy was seriously wiggy,” Willow pointed out. “What else did her call it?”
“The Devourer,” Buffy supplied.
Angel stopped walking.
“And Jamie, or something like that,” Kennedy said. “No, Jasmine.”
Angel turned around. “What,” he said. “Did you say ‘barer of the Devine One?’”
“Yeah,” Buffy said.
“And the Devine One is also known as Jasmine?”
“Yeah,” Buffy repeated. “Why?”
“So then the barer of the Devine One would also be Jasmines mother!”
“I guess,” Buffy said, even though Angel had already taken off. “What did I miss?” she asked.
“Jasmine was the creature Cordy gave birth to,” Fred said right before she, Gunn, and Wesley took off after Angel.
“Crap!” Buffy cried, and took off after them.
“Wait,” Willow said. “Then that would make Cordy Jasmines...”
“Mother!” Xander and Kennedy cried.
***
“You’re back,” the man said when he saw Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Kennedy enter. “And I see you have found your friends.”
“Where is she?” Angel demanded.
The man looked nervously at Willow. “Uh, I’m supposed to...”
“Where is she?” Angel repeated.
“But, the Devine One...”
“Jasmine is dead,” Angel said. “Has been for a few weeks now.”
“What?” the mas asked, suddenly realizing that he hadn’t felt her presence in quite some time.
Angel pushed past the grief stricken man and into the next room.
In the center of the room he saw Cordelia, laying on an alter, covered with white lace.
“Cordy!” Angel cried, rushing to her side. “Why won’t she wake up?”
The man closed his eyes and mumbled a few words in a language even Willow didn’t recognize.
Cordelia’s eyes fluttered. “Angel?” She asked.
“I’m right here,” Angel said with tears in his eyes.
***
“How are you doing?” Willow asked.
“I don’t know,” Buffy admitted. “Seeing Angel and Cordy kiss like that. Well, it was a shock.”
“Right there with you,” Willow told her friend.
“You’d think I’d be upset because of the history that Angel and I share. But I’m not. In fact, I’m really happy for them. Really.”
“Then why are you crying?” Willow asked.
“Because it’s not fair,” Buffy said. “Because I miss him so much and there is no way that I will ever see him again.”
“You’re not talking about Angel,” Willow said, “are you?”
Buffy shook her head.
***
It had been three days since they had found Cordelia when Angel showed up the hotel.
“Willow,” he said, “can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure,” Willow said, and led him into the library. “What’s up?”
“There’s a spell. In one of those books I sent over,” the vampire said.
“Really?” Willow asked. “A spell in a spell book, what are the odds?” She paused. “I think I know the one you’re talking about.”
“Can you do it?”
“I think so.”
“Good,” Angel said.
“Does that mean you want me to?”
Angel nodded.
“Why? I didn’t think that you and him got along. Besides, we don’t know where Drusilla is and we kinda need her blood...”
“What are you talking about?” Angel asked.
“The spell to resurrect a vampire,” Willow said. “What are you talking about?”
“The spell to remove my curse.”
“What?” Willow asked, confused. “Wait, I think I saw that. But wouldn’t you lose your soul?”
Angel nodded. “But,” he said, handing her another spell book, “there’s a spell in here that will give me my soul back without the curse.”
“Okay,” Willow said slowly. “And we haven’t done this before because...”
“I didn’t know the spells existed. The only reason I do now is because Wolfram and Hart had copies of the books that contained them. The spell books actually don’t even belong in our plane of existence. And I’m not totally sure that they will work.”
“Are you sure you want me to do this?” Willow asked.
Angel nodded.
“You’re in love with Cordy, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” Angel admitted.
“I knew it!” Willow said proudly.
“Does Buffy know?”
“But she’s fine with it. She’s happy for you guys. She’s just a little bummed about the Spike dying thing.”
“Well, even though Spike isn’t one of my favorite people, I guess, if these spells work, we can try the one to bring him back,” Angel offered.
“But we would need the blood of his sire,” Willow said, “and we don’t know where Dru is.”
“Use my blood,” Angel said. “I sired his sire. It should work.”
“Ok, when do you want to do it?”
“Right now,” Angel said. “I have everything we’ll need out in my car. Meet me in the basement in about five minutes.”
“Ok,” Willow said.
“And you might want to get Faith or that other slayer on your way down. In case the second spell doesn’t work.”
Willow grabbed both Faith and Kennedy by the arms and drug them down to the basement with her.
Angel showed up a few minutes later with Lorne and a plastic bag.
“Ok,” Angel said after he was securely locked in the cage. “This is how it’s gonna work. I remove the curse and you restore my soul without it.”
“Ok,” Willow said. “But what’s he for?” She indicated Lorne.
“After Willow finishes the soul restoration I sing for him and he tells you guys whether it worked or not.”
“Oh, goody.” Lorne said. “I haven’t heard Mandy nearly enough this year.”
“Mandy?” Faith asked the vampire, obviously amused.
“It was the only song I know,” Angel lied.
***
Cordelia burst through the front door of the hotel, startling Buffy, Robin, Dawn, and Andrew.
“Am I too late?” she asked breathlessly.
“Too late for what?” Buffy wondered.
“Where’s Angel?”
“In the basement,” Buffy said. “What’s going on?”
Cordy handed Buffy the piece of paper that she had been clutching.
“Is that even possible?” Buffy asked when she finished reading it, but Cordy had already gone downstairs.
“What?” Dawn asked.
Buffy handed her sister the paper and followed Cordy down the stairs.
She stopped short of running into Cordy at the bottom of the stairs.
“What’s the holdup?”
Buffy followed Cordy’s gaze. “That’s Angel?” She cried. “Singing?”
Angel stopped singing and glared at her.
“Well?” Willow asked Lorne.
“It worked,” the empath demon said.
“Really?” Cordy asked.
Lorne nodded.
***
“I’m sorry,” Angel said again. “I was really hoping it would work.”
“Maybe there’s another spell,” Willow said as she opened the car door.
“You’re welcome to stop by the office and look. But I don’t think you’ll find one.”
“Neither do I,” Willow admitted. “I just hate that we had to go all the way to what was left of Sunnydale to find out that the spell wasn’t gonna work.”
“Maybe if we found Dru,” Angel suggested.
Willow shook her head. “I just don’t think it was meant to be.”
***
“What’s that?” Faith asked.
“I don’t know,” Angel admitted. “I just got it in the mail.”
Faith took the manilla envelope away from him. “Huh, no return address.” she handed it back to him “You gonna open it?”
“You can.” He handed it back to her.
“What if it’s something someone evil sent to you?” Faith asked. “It could be a bomb.”
“Boss,” Harmony’s voice said over the intercom. “There is an Andrew Wells here to see you.”
Angel smiled. “Send him in.”
“Ooh,” Faith said. “I see where you’re heading with this. You make Andrew open it and if there’s any danger we’ll be safely hiding behind your desk.”
“Exactly,” Angel said, putting the envelope down on his desk.
“Greetings,” Andrew said as he walked into the office.
“Andrew,” Angel said as he and Faith walked to the other side of his desk. “That envelope on the table. Could you open it?”
“Sure,” Andrew said, walking over and picking up the envelope.
Just as he was about to tear it open, Faith and Angel ducked down on the other side of the desk.
***
“You’re a ghost,” Buffy said.
“Pretty much,” Spike told her.
“How...”
“Don’t know pet.”
“But... you died, didn’t you?”
“That would explain the me being a ghost.”
“Spike,” Buffy said. “I really did mean it. In the Hellmouth. I do love you and no matter what happens, I always will.”
She was so happy to see him that she didn’t care that he wasn’t solid. All that mattered is that she got the chance to tell him how she felt.
***
“There has to be a way to make him corporeal again,” Fred said.
“If there is,” Willow promised, “we’ll find it.”
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