"It's a beautiful night in Sunnydale,
A beautiful night in Sunny-hell,
Won't you please die?
Can I make you die?"
Angel sang softly to himself, rewriting words to fit his purpose as he sauntered through the warehouse on his way to the cold room for his breakfast. The sun was setting in another hour, giving the vampire time to stop, smell the fresh blood and then go torment the Slayer some more.
Sliding down the rail to the lower level, the leather pants not at all sticking to the well polished wood, he vaulted over the rail to land on the floor with a startling thud. Several of the younger vampires leapt out of his way, all eager to avoid Angelus first thing in the evening. He had two mood after getting up, either he was in a foul temper or a very quirky mood. Neither was fun for whoever he ran into.
Angel smiled, fangs bared in a hideous mockery of good humor. Spike's minions ran even faster. Loudly, he continued to hum to himself, knowing the tune to Mr. Roger's neighborhood was fit to drive Spike totally insane. Easing into their makeshift kitchen, which really didn't contain anything a modern kitchen would, his casual walk shifted into a prowling stroll. Even with the heavy door closed, he could hear the whimpers and cries of the herd. Poor pathetic things were so scared, knowing that they were on the dinner menu.
And Angel did so love frightened blood. It was invigorating.
His hand curled about the large cold-doors handle, pulling the latch with a good heavy jerk. It was brilliant of Spike to have the cold room installed, and keeping the temperature at a comfortable fifty- six degrees. The blood wasn't frozen, but lightly cooled for an enjoyable wake-up meal. And the stimulation of being cold, scared and knowing there was no escape just made the blood richer. It was like smoked meat, or aged wine, there was a delightful texture and taste to the dining experience.
Swinging the door wide, he smiled at the four young teens cowering inside, their instinctive cringe and whine away from him just filled his unbeating heart with more song.
"Yes, it's a beautiful eve on the Hellmouth
A wondrous night on the Hellmouth
Won't your blood taste good?
Can I taste your blood so good?"
Fifteen minutes later, still licking his lips, Angel joined the rest of his family in the dining room. "Someone's got dishes to clean up." He announced, usurping the captain's chair at the head of the table. It was Spike's seat, but since roller-boy was confined to his chair, Angel decided to keep his seat warm for him. These little tricks did annoy Spike so very much, and since Drusilla was long since conditioned to do whatever her sire wanted, she wouldn't say boo to stop him. That simply frustrated Spike even more. And anything that frustrated Spike,
Lounging indolently, one leg thrown over the chair air, Angelus picked at his teeth with sublime indifference. Roller-boy sat fuming from his wheelchair, the smoke practically pouring out his ears, and his glare barely held in check. "And if I'm not mistaken, Spike, it's your turn." He concluded, smacking his lips.
"Get stuffed, you bloody prick." Spike snarled, wheeling closer to Angel. "Those kids weren't there for your evening snack. They're for emergency shortages. The fledglings have to eat too, and they're not ready for hunting yet."
Angel shrugged. "They can hunt, Spike. They just have problems avoiding getting slain while hunting. It's like an infant, it can walk, but tends to fall down. Only difference is, a baby gets back up. The fledglings just get swept up with a broom and dustpan."
"She wasn't this bloody genocidal before you started in on her!" Spike growled. Shifting to the biggest cause of his irritation with Angel, other than their sire's encroachment in Dru's affections. "We never had to protect new vampires before now, the Slayer barely took out five or six new ones a night. Another dozen always survived her hobby vampiricide."
Angel smirked. "Obviously the latest fledglings simply aren't the cream of the crop. No great loss. They should know to run first and let a real vampire deal with the Slayer."
"And I suppose you mean, by a real vampire the mighty and terrible Angelus." Spike jeered. "All you've managed to do is piss the girl off. We need her dead, not angry." Spike was pacing on wheels now, his temper barely contained. In the weeks since Angel had returned to the fold, Spike had discovered he liked a goody-goody Angel far better than ever he'd liked Drusilla's sire and his mentor. Angelus was straight out insane, Angel was just suicidal.
"She'll be dead, soon enough. I really think we need to get you some blood rich with Prozac. Relax Spike, I've got things right where I want them." Angel smiled fondly at Drusilla, watching her fuss with one of her dolls. "Don't I Dru?"
The brunette vampiress looked up, the insanity shining in her blank expression. "Of course you do Angel, my dark Angel." Her head tilted to one side, eyes shifting in her head to look at her blond consort. "Angel always knows how to court a lady, Spike. He wins her heart, and then eats it all up."
"Could he please just wine and dine on her a little faster?" Spike threw his hands up in disgust.
Dru pouted at him, slipping away from the table to get closer. "Aren't you happy, Spike?" She sulked, her arms slipping about his neck from behind, her fingers scraping along the black fabric of his shirt. "Princess is happy, so why isn't Spike happy?"
"Probably because he's not the one giving Princess her happies." Angel snickered, picking up a butter knife from the table and digging into the antique wood. The table, while a veritable heirloom piece wasn't nearly as antique as the vampire massacreing it.
"Just you shut-up." Spike glowered, wishing that he wasn't trapped in the damnable chair. That too, was the fault of the Slayer that Angelus refused to kill. Eyes lowered as Drusilla cooed sweetly at him, as if he was one of her dolls, Spike studied Angel silently. 'I want him gone. Hell, I want him more than gone. If the Slayer won't slay him, maybe I will. My civic duty for this millenia.'
"You've got to understand, Spike." Angel rambled on while paring slivers of wood from the mahoganey table. "There's nothing more satisfying than killing your enemy. Buffy is my... our, enemy. I want to savor this kill, make the memory last. So, I'm taking my time."
"Take a damn picture of her and fantasize about the kill them. At the rate you're moving, she'll be dead of old age first." Spike shot off, his hands dropping again to the wheel's of his chair. Pulling at them, he turned about, heading to the entrance. "I think you can cut back on the quality time and just get to the point."
Drusilla mewled pathetically as Spike left, looking over her shoulder at Angel with the expression of an abandoned kitten. "Spike doesn't want to play." She whined.
Angel pushed away from the table, walking behind his child, but looking past her, to the doorway Spike had vanished through. "Guess not, Dru. But, don't you worry. Daddy's going out to run some errands, and when I get back there's going to be lots of fun dead things for Drusilla to play with."
* * *
"Ouch!" Xander yelped, retracting his hand from the box and shaking it. "I'm bleeding!" Instantly he popped a wounded finger into his mouth. "What did you pack that thing in? Pins and needles?"
Willow looked down into the small china-cup box, her fingers tentatively poking at the tissue paper to find what Xander had hurt himself on, a large part of her fearing she'd broken the Orb on her way to the library. Pushing through the layers of tissue and packing foam, she lifted out the Orb gently, delighting in the way the small ball glowed at her touch. "There's nothing sharp in here, Xander." She decided, carefully rolling the Orb around to make sure there was no damage. "Let me see your hand."
With her own habitual care for objects, Willow lowered the Orb back into it's box, and took Xander's hand into hers, peering at his hand to try and find his gaping wound. "I don't see...."
"Here." Xander held up his index finger, pointing with his free hand to the tip. There was no blood to be seen.
Dutifully, Willow studied it, hemming and hawing to herself. "This is terrible, Xander." She exclaimed, eyes wide and panicked. "You pricked yourself! You're surely going to die."
"Or sleep for a thousand years. Depending on which evil fairy cursed you." Buffy offered drily as she joined them. Tossing her satchel onto a chair, she peered into the box Willow had brought to school. "Is this it?" She asked hopefully.
Willow dropped Xander's hand, and gently reached into the box again. "Yup." She said with a triumphant smile. "It took awhile to find it, but I did. And Mom let me play hooky this morning, 'cause I was sooo very tired, she said. So I went and got it."
"Awesome." Buffy breathed, watching the lights dance from within it. "Has Giles seen it? Are we ready to do this?"
Willow cupped the Orb gently, holding it tight to her body for safekeeping. "Yup. He's in his office, getting everything else together." The redhead smiled, looking excited. "We're really going to do this, we're really going to get Angel back, aren't we! I can't believe it!"
"Me either." Buffy grinned, ignoring Xander's sound of retching. "I mean, I was starting to really think I was going to have to slay Angel, but now..."
"Now you can make him your smoochable Angel." Willow finished.
"Totally." Buffy sighed, eyes shutting as she imagined what Angel would do after his soul was restored. Sweep her up into his arms and kiss her like he had before.
"Earth to Buffy." Xander called. "Come in Buffy." Hopping up to sit on the table, the Slayerette looked mildly disgusted. "Could you girls please get your minds off of the smooching factors. Soul or not, he's still a vampire. Undead. As in, not alive?"
Buffy blinked, glancing at Willow before they both shifted to glare at Xander. "Your point?" The Slayer asked crisply.
Xander swung his face from one friend to the other, neither giving an inch. "No point." He sighed, admitting defeat. Maybe Cordelia was right, he mused. His obsession with Buffy knew no bounds, even while smooching with Cordy, he still flipped out to think of her with Angel.
"Oh, I don't know." Willow was saying. "I mean, if this works, and gives him back his soul without conditions, maybe there's a spell to make him mortal again, too. Wouldn't that be cool?"
"Do you think?" Buffy bounced at the idea, making Xander wince. "It'd be so awesome, I could take him home for dinner then." Eyes glowing, she seemed so happy at the thought. Everything about tonight had really perked her up. She'd taken care with what she was wearing, how her makeup was on, and styling her hair. All in all, Buffy the teen was as accounted for as Buffy the Slayer. "It'd be so awesome, I could take him home for dinner then."
"You still can." Xander muttered derisively, fishing in his pockets for some food, his appetite reviving after hearing reference to any meal. "Problem is, he'd eat you and your mom, rather than the food."
The girls ignored him, instead, they carefully packed the Orb back up and got the rest of their equipment together. Restoring Angel's soul meant they had to find the vampire. Recapturing the soul, and placing it back in it's true body required physical contact. Buffy was going to handle the up close and personal aspect, since she was the only one of their group who could actually fight Angel. Willow would be helping Giles, and Xander would be obstructing any possible escape Angel could make. He hadn't quite figured out how he was supposed to do that.
"I'll go get Giles." Buffy decided, checking her watch for the umpteenth time. "The sun's gone down, and if I know Angelus, he'll be on the prowl in a half hour." Slinging her workbag over her shoulder, and patting herself down for the rest of her equipment, Buffy gave both Slayerettes a curt nod.
Giles office was in it's usual degree of scholastic disorder. This spell having been discovered just added to the mess. Her Watcher had put aside his own personal feelings and researched his heart out to help her, Buffy realized, smiling fondly as she entered the room. 'And he's still at work!'
Head bent low, Giles' was writing hastily onto a notepad, his left hand holding a book open, index finger pointing to a passage in it. His coat, and his notes on the spell as well as the actual words of the spell were all neatly piled on a chair beside him, the keys to his pathetic little car gleamed dully at the top of the pile.
"Giles?" Buffy called quietly, not wanting to startle the man. He'd arrived at the school at his usual time, just after seven am. He had to be exhausted, but had still put in a full day for the sake of his Slayer.
His head bobbed up immediately, looking over his shoulder to see her. "Oh! Buffy. You're here." He pushed away from his desk, standing up quickly. "I'm sorry, I must have lost track of time. Is everyone ready?"
Buffy smiled, a smaller expression than what she'd shared with her friends, but this smile wasn't for the happy thought of Angel's return. It was for Giles. "Yeah. We're ready. How about you?"
Giles tucked his notes about the spell under his arm, his keys in hand. "Oh, yes. Well. I'm quite set. Shall we go?"
Buffy reached out to lightly touch Giles' tweed covered arm, absently pulling a thread off. "Hold on. Before we go, I just want to say thank you."
It obviously wasn't something the Watcher was expecting, his jaw fell open. "I you're welcome."
The Slayer laughed softly. "You don't even know what I'm thanking you for!" Buffy turned her head to look at the wreckage around her. "Thank you for this." She said with a sweep of her arm. "For putting up with me and my adolescence, for being the best Watcher you can, even when you'd rather have me just stake Angel. Thanks for being MY Watcher." She finished tilting her head to one side and smiling sheepishly. "I know I sometimes disappoint you, and I really don't show how much I appreciate you as much as I should, but I do, and I am really sorry for all the disappointments. So, thanks for putting up with me."
"I it's ah." Giles stuttered, touched by her honesty. "You're very welcome, Buffy. But, you're wrong. You've never disappointed me. You may have disappointed yourself once or twice, but you've never failed me."
"Not even with Ms. Calendar?" Buffy forced the question ask, her voice wistful, but the sadness in her eyes paled to the sorrow in Giles' face at hearing Jenny's name.
"Not even then. What happened with Jenny was... sad." Giles admitted. "But hardly your fault. I could never blame you for her death."
"Just Angel." Buffy sighed, her voice trailing off as the mood in the room shifted. "Where do we go if this works, Giles?" She finally found the strength to ask. "What happens to Angel?" There was no way that Giles would ever welcome Angel back into their group, not after Angel had murdered the woman the Watcher had loved.
Giles fumbled with his keys, his discomfort clearly showing. "I really don't know, Buffy. I promise that I'll try to get along with him, but I just don't know how successful I'll be." Her Watcher admitted, confirming Buffy's own suspicious on how deeply bitter he was on the whole isssue.
"You'll do your best. I know." Buffy scratched the back of her neck, twirling blond hair around her index finger. "That's all I can hope for." Rolling her weight back onto one booted heel, she pivoted about. "I guess we'd better get going."
Giles followed her silently, both trying to shelf the feelings their conversation had raised. The resentment Angelus had seeded into them, towards Angel, was deep and while intellectully they knew it wasn't Angel's fault, emotionally, letting go of the pain in the perceived betrayal would be very hard.
Xander perked up, jumping to his feet as the Slayer and the Watcher approached. "Alrighty, peoples. Move out!" Xander commanded at Buffy's thumbs-up. "Operation Soul-man is now in effect."
"Corporal?" Buffy said crisply, still moving to the doors with her entorage in tow. Head turned sideways to look at Xander, her blue eyes were dancing with excitement for what they were about to do.
"Yes, General!" He joked along.
"Shut up." Buffy smiled sweetly to soften the blow, her hand pushing against the library door. With a solid shove, the door swung wide, and the Slayerette militia stormed out for the parking lot.
Lightly tripping down the stairs by the parking lot, Cordelia pulled her car up to meet them at the bottom of the stairs, her sports coupe so shiney that it had to have just come from a carwash. Xander pulled the door open and stuck his head in. "We need a clean car to hunt Angel down?"
Cordelia sniffed. "No, we need a clean car for me to be seen in town. You're already late meeting me, so either get in or walk."
"I thought we were taking my car?" Giles asked, obviously puzzled by Cordelia's arrival. Willow fondly patted the Watcher's arm with her free hand, the other cradling the box with the Orb carefully.
"No Giles." Buffy shook her head, the pony-tail once again swinging. Dressed in her dark hunting clothes, she only needed to have the black smudge lines on her face to look anymore like an undercover G.I.. "I want to find Angel tonight, not tomorrow night. Your car doesn't go much past 30."
He gaped, not sure whether to be insulted, or to let it slide and get in. His little car was perfectly serviceable, and he was quite fond of the tiny vehicle. "I---"
"Oh let him drive his own car." Cordelia rolled her eyes "There's no way you can all fit in my car." She decided. "Not with the equipment Buffy's carrying around. Maximum of three more people and luggage. If my upholstery gets damaged, you're all paying for it!"
"She's been practicing diplomacy." Buffy nodded to Willow. "Did you notice how tactfully she said that?"
Giles looked somewhat torn, unwilling to let the children risk running into Angelus without him, but seeing good reason for taking the two cars. "Fine, I'll follow. Buffy can try to sense where Angel will be and lead us to him and I'll follow you from behind." He took the Orb as Willow passed it to him, waiting until the small girl had gotten into the back seat of the car, before passing her both the Orb and the written copy of the spell needed to activate it. In theory, the hardcopy wouldn't be needed, Giles had committed it to memory, and Willow had spent quite a few hours grilling him to ensure he had it memorized. Caution, however, ruled that bringing the sheet would be wise.
"Be careful." Giles cautioned Buffy one last time, as the Slayer climbed into the front seat. "Don't take any risks unnecessarily, just keep Angelus distracted while I cast the spell. Nothing more. When the Orb is tossed to you, you NEED to put it in physical contact with him, but don't break it!"
"Yeah, yeah. We've been through this. I get it. Touch him with the crystal ball, don't smash it upside his head." Buffy waved him off, rolling up the window. Out of courtesy, Cordelia waited until Giles was in his car, and had the tiny little ratmobile moving. The instant he pulled the Citroen out of his parking spot, Cordelia hit the gas.
Turning back to see if Giles was following, Buffy made the guess that it was around turn number three that they totally lost him. "Geez, I hope Watcher's can sense where their Slayer's are." She muttered, turning back to sit disgruntled in her seat. "Even if their Slayer's are moving at warp three."
"Don't be ridiculous. He'll find us." Cordelia predicted airily, cutting out to weave around a car that was ONLY doing the speedlimit. "Where do these people get their licenses? Cracker- Jack boxes?" She complained looking out the side at the driver and his creative sign language. "Did you see what he did?"
In the back seat, Xander fixedly stared out the window to avoid a nervous breakdown as his girlfriend drove more aggressively than an Indy-500 driver. Beside him, Willow clutched the Orb tightly but kept her eyes closed. The slight movement of her lips suggested she was repeating prayers endlessly.
"Cordy... that's a red LIGHT!" Buffy shouted as Cordelia ran an amber. Willow and Xander both cringed, but neither looked.
"It was yellow." The brunette replied defensively. "Relax! I've never had an accident. Well, other than that little fender bender, and Oz's mauling of my car,... and that time I nearly took out the pedestrian... but she shouldn't have been pushing a baby carriage across that street!"
"You what? What street?" Buffy tossed a look at Willow, hoping the girl wouldn't hyperventilate during this scenic little hunt Angel drive. For that matter, she hoped she wouldn't hyperventilate. The drinking and driving commercial flashed through her head 'Friends don't get friends killed.' Ha! They didn't know Cordy.
"Cedarsdale." Cordelia replied, turning left sharply. This route led to the graveyard. It was as good a place as any to start tracking Angelus down.
"That's a residential street." Willow's eyes opened as her jaw dropped. "What do you mean someone shouldn't have been pushing a baby carriage there! There's isn't even an intersection... Cedarsdale is where the park is, and houses..."
"Whatever." Cordelia replied, eyes flicking up to look at Willow's horrified reflection. The car slowed down as Cordelia turned left for the quiet streets surrounding the cemetary. They circled the graveyard slowly, theoretically for Buffy to get a feel. "I was there, and she shouldn't have been. That's all that can be said about it." Cordelia summed up, her hand flicking to dismiss the topic of her driving.
"Nice to see all our ego's are in check." Xander muttered to himself, still not looking anywhere but out the side window. Even at a slow pace, Cordelia's driving frightened him. "I'd hate for Cordelia to actually think she wasn't God."
Buffy twisted around to smirk at him. Xander jerked his head forward, winked once, and turned back to his window. Just in time to see Angelus hit the side of the car and tear the door open.
"Hi'ya lover. Come to let me kill you?" The vampire jeered, his gameface in place, the blood about the corner of his mouth and dotting his shirt testimony to another recent death at his hands.
Before he could reach in and drag one of his favorite people to torture out, Buffy unlatched her seatbelt and tackled him about the waist, throwing him onto his back a good five feet from the car, and rolling over to scramble to her feet in a defensive posture. Looking past his shoulder at the car, she watched the Slayerettes scramble out. "DO IT!" She shouted, ducking as Angelus swung at her.
"Do it." Xander nodded. "Sure. Just as soon as Giles magically appears to do his hocus pocus. Sure, Buffy. We'll just get right on that." His shoulder's tensed instantly as Angelus slugged Buffy hard across the jaw, her head swinging back under the sheer violence of the action. She didn't fall down, though. "How the HELL can we do it? She's gonna get killed, we've I've got to help her."
Faster than Willow had ever suspected Cordelia was capable of, the cheerleader's arm snapped out and grabbed the back of Xander's collar. "Stay." She commanded with a jerk to his shirt. "If you get in her way, you'll get both you and Buffy killed." Cordelia's voice was uncharacteristically sharp. "We've got to do this spell." Expectantly, she looked at Willow.
"Why me?" Willow panicked, clutching the Orb to her chest. "I can't do the spell. I'm Jewish."
"So what! I'm Catholic. Move on." Cordelia pointed a finger at Willow. "You've got the spell, right? So chant it! Wave your arms about, dance, whatever the witchy thing is, do it!"
"Uh, guys? Could we argue after the spell? Buffy is getting her butt seriously whupped!" Xander pleaded, his head turning back from watching Buffy fight, to look at his friends. The two verbal combatants didn't hear him.
Willow shook her head, eyes wide, but still looking only at Cordelia. "Nuh-huh. I can't do the spell." She pouted. "You can't make me! Look, I compromised already, I put up crosses in my room just to keep Angel out. I'm a good Jewish girl, I don't do crosses, but there's one hanging on my wall. If I listen to the rabbi, I'm gonna go to hell for that. Now you want me playing witch? Why don't you just tie me to a stake, strike a few matches and bring my family out for the roast? Wouldn't that be easier?"
"Fine. Angel can suck us all dry then." Cordelia retorted. "Your parents will love that even more, especially after my mother sues them for getting me killed."
"LADIES!" Xander bellowed, wincing as Buffy nailed Angel in the stomach, but the vampire spun around to kick her in the back. "I'll do the spell. Gimme that sheet, and the ball."
Cordelia jerked his collar to spin him around, her usually vacuous, self-centered nature totally absent from her eyes. "Parlez-vous en francais? Pense-tu que tu savoir la bien de..."
"Wha?" Xander gapped at her. "English, Cordy."
"You can't do the spell!" Cordelia informed him. "You don't even know French, much less Latin." She looked at Willow. "And I think MY French proves I can't do it!"
Willow cringed. "But..."
"DUCK!" Xander pulled Cordelia down, rolling them both clear as Buffy was thrown across the car and against a tree. Cordelia screamed as they fell, crying out in pain as her ankle was wrenched.
Willow didn't move, her body simply twisting to stare at Buffy's crumpled body in shock, before turning back around to see Angel walking straight for her. The whimper in her throat died, as she instinctively lifted the Orb.
"A Thesulan Orb." Angel observed, as it flared to life. "Pretty little things, but useless once they're broken." He grinned, his fangs so white they glowed in the dark night. "I know what you're trying to do." He breathed, standing not three meters from where Willow stood and still moving slowly, a feral beast leisurely stalking sitting prey. "But, it won't work. Wanta know why?"
Willow deliberately ignored him, her lips scarcely moving as she rushed through the entire spell as fast as she could, a quiet corner of her mind terribly impressed with the fact she'd memorized it while drilling Giles. She was on the final words, the command to the Orb to seize the soul, the words needed to contain the soul, and then touch the Orb to the body that would host it, when Angel rushed at her.
"You'll be dead!" He roared, his hands reaching for her wrists. Willow jerked her hands clear, lifting the glowing ball up. The Orb flashed with a brilliant white light, bright as a star bursting supernova, the power and energy jolting her, and blasting into Angelus as she thrust the Orb of Thesulah against the Vampire's chest.
His body was thrown back, crashing into Cordelia's car, the painful howl dying as he faded from consciousness for a moment. Willow could only imagine how painful the contact had been for him, to take a vampire and knock him out. She felt jittery, nerves and tissue all feeling like she'd been electrocuted. Shaking slightly, she bent down and carefully set the Orb on the ground. "Oh God." She gasped, standing back up and looking at Angel's still body. "I did it."
Buffy groaned staggering behind Willow. She pulled herself up alongside the girl, her eyes fixated Angel's prone form. She'd seen everything, but by the time she'd gotten to her feet, it'd been to late to do anything but watch. The Slayer wrapped her shaking friend into a hug. "You did!" Her voice was thick with emotion: relief mingling with exhaustion. Not moving any closer, Buffy stared at the body of the man she still loved. "You really did it."
"We could use some help." Xander called drily, interrupting the two gawking girls. "He isn't in any danger of dying, since he's already dead, but we've got a casualty over here."
That snapped Willow back to reality, she released Buffy immediately, and rushed over to use her first-aid training. In a daze, Buffy watched her go, her head swinging back to look at Angel. He was so still, so pale, crumpled against the car's thick tire, his chin resting against his chest.
"Her ankle might be broken, but I think it's more likely sprained." Willow's evaluation distracted Buffy, pulling her attention to the trio huddled at the side of the road. "I can wrap it up, for now, but if she puts weight on it, it'll hurt." She looked over at Buffy. "Can you get the first aid kit, please?"
The Slayer turned away from Angel, retrieving her emergency kit from her supply bag, but dropping her equipment by the tree. Unless Angel woke up as Angelus, they weren't needed. And the stakes she was packing on her body would do if the worst did happen.
"If you're saying I have to carry her, forget it!" Xander declared. "She weighs a tonne!"
"I DO not!" Cordelia fumed, slapping his arm. "And it's not like you would know!"
"Oh?" Xander jumped out of her arm range. "When you rolled over on me, I nearly died!" He waved a finger at her.
"Why was she on top of you, Xander?" Buffy asked bemusedly, squatting down beside Willow and passing over the small emerge kit. Cordelia's ankle was already swelling, and the car was so beat up, Buffy doubted it would be safe to drive in. "Is there something you'd like to share with us?" Teasing Xander, Buffy didn't look at her friend, instead, she held Cordelia's ankle prone while Willow wrapped it, ignoring Cordy's little mewls of pain.
"She wasn't." Xander retracted with a stutter. "Not like what you're thinking, it was... when Oz.. The car. Right. In the car, she jumped on me to get out."
"Did not!" Cordelia protested. "I floored the car. If you're going to tell lies, at least make it good!" She sniffed. "When you were all possessed 'cause of that stupid love spell? In the basement at your house Buffy? When we were surrounded and attacked. That's when."
"Funny." Willow muttered quietly, tugging to make sure the bandages were appropriately tight. "I thought you were on top of him."
Xander snickered, smiling triumphantly at Cordelia. She glared back at him. "You're wrong." She said firmly.
"Uh huh." Willow surveyed her work one last time, rocking back on her heels. "How's Angel?" She asked Buffy, seeing that the Slayer was watching the still unmoving vampire.
"I don't know." She admitted. "I don't want to go near him, just in case..."
"It worked, Buffy. It had to." Willow soothed, touching the Slayer's arm hesitantly. "If it didn't, we do it again." Standing up, Willow offered Buffy a hand. "Come on, we'd better see if the Orb hurt him."
Buffy smiled wistfully, her lower lip sucked in. "It had to work." She whispered, taking Willow's hand. Willow tugged, pulling Buffy up. The thought that Angel still didn't have his soul, was still a vampiric killer, was simply unbearable to Buffy. Unless this spell worked, Buffy had no choice but to slay him. She couldn't allow more people to die because of her weakness, but her grief would last forever.
The two girls gave one another a silent look, instinctively knowing what the other was thinking. Wordlessly, leaving Xander and Cordelia to their arguments, Buffy and Willow walked back to the tree Angel had thrown Buffy into. The Slayer bent down and scooped up her fallen bag, restoring her first aid kit to it's rightful pocket
Experience on her nightly patrols had taught her that tensure wraps, bandages and hydrogen perocide packages, as well as foundation, lip gloss and a brush were necessities. The first three to help her continue to fight if she did get hurt, the last to help her sneak back into the house without her mother wigging on her.
She passed the bag to Willow, and waited until Willow had it slung across her shoulder's comfortable. Turning, Buffy extracted a stake from her coat sleeve. "Just in case." She murmured, looking at Willow with eyes bright.
Willow nodded silently. Looking back across at Xander and Cordelia, their hands waving all over the place as they fought, then back to Angel, the redhead was distracted by the sound of a car on the road. Buffy had already started for Angel, Willow's hand wrapping about her arm stopping her. "Giles." Willow nodded to the small car coming closer.
The Citroen parked on the opposite side of the road from Cordelia's car, Giles rushing out to see only two of the foursome he'd sent on their way. "Where is...." The shouting across the road drew his eyes to the missing duo. "Oh, thank heavens."
"We did it, Giles." Buffy smiled tiredly. "Actually, Willow did it."
Willow grinned. "The spell-stuff was easy!" She said perkily. "Maybe we should study up on that witchy stuff. It's faster than making up stories so we can ask Amy to do it."
Angel's sudden groan stopped Giles from replying, the Watcher and the two girls staring at the fallen man in horrified fascination. He rolled over to his knees, dragging his body up. One hand on the hood of the car to support his swaying body, the other cradled a pounding head.
*Damn Slayer and her friends, what did they hit me with?* He cursed. His eyes cracked open, slitting to look out one side, and then the other. On one side was the car, the streetlight's bright glare casting his reflection on the window; the other side had the Slayer, the redheaded would-be witch, and the Watcher all watching him like gaping fish. *Didn't work little girl, big bad Angelus is still in town. He grunted, hand sliding up his face and down as he comforted his wounded head. *Rip their damn throats out and suck them dry*
Xander moved up beside Buffy, watching Angel curiously. Cordelia stood beside him, her arm about his waist and the wounded foot raised. "Hey, that's neat. Is it a side effect of the spell?" Xander observed, watching Angel stare at them with vacant eyes.
"What?" Willow muttered, her fingers clenching and unclenching nervously in the soft fabric of her skirt.
"The reflection." Xander nodded towards Angel's reflection in the glass window. "I thought vampires don't have reflections."
Angel stared at Xander in growing horror, the boys words seeping into his addled brain. Reflection. He didn't have a reflection. HE was a vampire, vampires didn't have reflections. The kid was whacked... and soon to be dead. Turning, Angel clutched at the doorframe to the passenger side window, looking straight down at the glass. Dark hair, strong forehead, brooding mouth....
"Oh my god!" Buffy gasped. "Angel?"
Angel's chest constricted, his hands reaching up to touch his forehead, slide down to his mouth. Lips parted, and he felt for fangs, he closed his eyes and willed himself to shift to a vampire. Nothing happened.
"He can't have a reflection." The Watcher was saying. "Vampires bend light around them, it's part of their undead state."
"He didn't have a reflection last time." Buffy added. "Does that mean he's alive?"
Alive. Angel gaped at the thought, to be anything but a vampire. The joy of the hunt, the pleasure of the kill. Gone. To be trapped in a body that would grow old and die. Experience disease, mortality, and pain.
To be human. Angel's head fell back, pain ripped through the base of his skull, but the vampiric spirit inside didn't care. "NOOOOOOOOO!" He howled. Adrenaline raced through his living body, helping him turn quickly, he paused, wild eyes staring at the Slayer and her crew, before he turned and vaulted over the car and through the cemetery.
"Damn!" Buffy swore, moving to chase after him.
"Wait, Buffy!" Giles called out, and incredibly, the Slayer stopped.
"Why Giles? What the hell happened?" She asked, standing at the graveyard fence. Her speed when she elected to move was phenomenal. "He shouldn't have run! He's finally human! It's just his feelings of guilt upsetting him, right? "
"I don't know. But something did scare him away." The Watcher stared at the Slayer, something deep within his mind very disturbed by what he'd just witnessed. Angel should have been overjoyed, to have reacquire mortality and his soul. That joy shouldn't have been overwhelmed by guilt, not immediately. Something was very wrong.
"Probably his reflection." Xander surmised with a negligent shrug. "It's like I've been saying all along, female attraction to his looks is baffling. Even he thinks he's butt ugly. It's that huge forehead and he's going to have a receding hairline."
"Xander." Buffy and Willow shouted.
"No, he's right." Giles said. "In a way, at least. It's his reflection. Discovering he was mortal, that upset him... if I didn't know better I'd think we were still dealing with Angelus."
"So, the spell didn't work?" Willow's face fell, her lower lip pouting. "Oh, fudge."
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