Buffy and Angel walked arm in arm down the sidewalk. She looked into his dark eyes and smiled. He noticed her gaze and smiled in return. Buffy reached up, standing on the tips of her toes to kiss Angel. He bent down and returned the kiss. Any passer by could have seen that the two were very much in love. As they parted and continued walking Buffy heard a noise. She spun around. Angel looked concerned, "What's wrong? Is it vampires?" he asked.
"No. Someone's here, I don't know who," she replied. The two looked around cautiously. "Let's get out of here. It was probably nothing." They resumed walking. The next thing Buffy knew she felt a hand on her shoulder and everything went black.
Angel whipped round in surprise hearing Buffy cry out. He saw her drop and he saw several robed figures standing around her. "No. Leave her alone. No-one's ever going to hurt again. I won't let you," he shouted angrily. "Leave her alone." One of the figures at the front of the group took a step forward and started to speak, "Don't worry we won't hurt your girlfriend. We're not after her...... Angelus." Angel felt his mouth drop open. How did they know his name.
"Come with us or we lift your curse," he said simply. Noting Angel's confusion. "Don't you know us Angelus we are of the Romani clan who you butchered all those years ago. You are to come with us for judgement. If you can prove to us that you are worthy we will bestow a curse on you that will be permanent, meaning that you could never under any circumstances lose your soul again. If however you cannot prove your worth it'll be time to kiss your soul goodbye as we can take that soul from you as easily as this," the gypsy snapped his fingers.
"What if I don't come?" Angel enquired.
"Well we take your soul anyway. We'll bring your girlfriend with us, she can act as a character witness. We had to subdue her though, we didn't think she'd come willingly. What with the risk of your soul being lost again and all. What do you say then, you coming?" The gypsy waved his hand and the robed figures lifted Buffy's limp form and started to carry her towards a large van. Angel followed hesitantly and then said,
"I'm coming, OK. Just give Buffy to me. I won't let you people touch her."
"How sweet. Angelus is a true romantic at heart. Pity you didn't understand the term when you killed our gypsy sister and Drusilla," he said bitterly. Even so he gestured for his friends to hand Buffy to Angel. He grabbed her and held her unconscious form jealously to his chest. He wanted to protect, he would protect her at any cost. He walked to the van and climbed in the back. He lay Buffy on his lap setting her head on his chest.
When the van arrived at its destination Angel looked out through the van's window. They were at a large building which looked very much like a farmhouse, it was set in a large corn field. The door was opened and Angel climbed out of the car with the still unconscious Buffy in his arms. The leader of the small group of gypsies had told him that his name was John. John ushered Angel forward, not to the house but to a large barn situated some way from the house. Whilst they made their way there Angel decided to find out as much as he could about what was going to happen,
"So is this like a trial or something?" he asked.
"Yes I suppose that's a good enough description as any. You will face the elders who will judge you," came the answer. Just at that moment Buffy began to stir. Angel stopped and laid her on the ground,
"Buffy? Are you OK?"
"Apart from my head feeling as though an elephant jumped on it, yeah I'm OK." She looked around realising she was in an entirely different place. "We're not in Kansas any more Toto," she murmured. "Where are we, and what happened, and who are these people?" she asked Angel confused.
"I don't know, you were hit on the head and we were brought here and these are gypsies from the clan that cursed me," he said, answering her questions in order. Buffy looked up at him worried, "Gypsies? They're not going to take your soul away again are they? We have to get you out of here. Now!" John who had been watching her spoke,
"Don't worry Buffy we're not going to hurt you."
"It's not me I'm worried about. It's my boyfriend," she replied.
"Well I don't know about him, that really depends on what you and your friends and of course Angel tell us in your testimony." Buffy looked confused and Angel explained to her what he was talking about. He then looked up just realising what John had said,
"Her friends?"
"Yes didn't we tell you? They're all here. We're having one big party all in your honour," John smiled.
They entered the barn, Buffy leaning on Angel's arm for support. She looked around the dark barn, she had to wait for her eyes to get used to the dark because outside there had been moonlight to see by. Her eyesight cleared and against the wall she saw her friends, the Scooby Gang as Xander liked to call them, sprawled in a heap. Buffy let go of Angel and ran to her friends. They were all unconscious. Everybody was there: Willow, Xander, Giles, Cordelia and Oz. Buffy tried to wake her friends, grabbing Willow by the shoulders she cried,
"Will, wake up. Come on Will. I need you awake."
"Buffy? What are you doing here? Where is here? Yeek what happened to everybody?" she asked as she noticed her friends. Angel had joined Buffy trying to wake her friends, his friends he corrected himself as he always had to. Angel found it hard to adjust to the fact that he had friends especially after what he did to them when he was Angelus. One by one the Scooby Gang awoke all with the same questions as Willow. Giles stood up tentatively,
"You're Jenny's, I mean Janna's people, is that correct?"
"Yes sir it is. Although these are strange circumstances I must say it is a pleasure to meet you. You are very well respected as a Watcher and......... well Janna was my sister and she told me how much she loved you," John said.
"Jenny had a brother?" Giles felt tears form in his eyes. "It's an honour to meet you." He shook John's hand then turned to the wall to collect his feelings. Buffy put a comforting hand on his shoulder, he smiled appreciatively at her.
"So what do we have to do, and when do we have to do it? I have a pedicure at nine tomorrow," Cordelia said. Buffy looked with disdain at Cordelia's lack of concern over Angel's soul.
"You have to tell the elders your feelings about Angel and why he should keep his soul, if you think he should," John replied. Buffy glared at Xander and pulled him aside,
"If you dare, I'll rip your throat out."
"Buffy calm. I wouldn't tell them to take Angel's soul away. I'm so over that phase. He's not that bad a guy." Xander did his best to reassure Buffy.
Another robed guy came in and spoke quietly to John. John clapped his hands to quieten the Scooby Gang. Everyone turned to him expectantly,
"The elders are ready. Only the person testifying at the time is allowed in the room. The rest of you must wait outside except for you Angelus you stay here."
"You know I'm just going by Angel nowadays," said Angel.
"If you can all leave now please," said John ignoring Angel's comment.
As the friends filed out Buffy turned to Angel, her eyes filled with tears,
"Angel I love you. I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't want to lose you again."
"I love you too. But there's nothing I can do to stop this, and who knows we might have a happy ending," he smiled weakly. "Buffy, if I do lose my soul again....... Please remember that I'd never willingly do anything to hurt you. You mean more to me than anything in the world and you always will. Always."
John approached Buffy and quietly said,
"It's time for you to go, I'm sorry."
He silently lead Buffy away. When he came back he lead Angel to a corner which had a cage in. Which wasn't visible to anyone unless they were right in front of it.
"You have to go in there. I know it's not much fun but if you lose your soul again we don't want you hurting anyone," John explained.
Angel thought of Buffy and what he had done to her last time he was Angelus and climbed into the cage. He turned to John with a desperate look in his eyes,
"John, I know you don't like me much because of Jenny and all but, if I become Angelus again, please promise me one thing. Kill me, I can't hurt Buffy again like that, and I know she couldn't kill me herself. Please promise me that," he pleaded.
John nodded, for the first time he thought that maybe Angel wasn't such a bad guy.
"I promise." At that moment about a dozen robed figures came in. The figure at the front of the group carried a staff with what looked like an Orb on the top. He seemed to be in charge. As the Elders sat down around a curved bench dim lights were turned on. The chief of the Elders stood and said,
"We are here to determine whether this vampire known as Angel should lose his soul and become Angelus again or if he has repented enough for his past sins and should have a curse placed upon him that could never break. His fate shall be decided tonight. I call the first character witness. Cordelia Chase."
The door opened slowly and Cordelia nervously entered, she made her way to just in front of the bench where she had was indicated at to go.
"Hi."
"Miss Chase, we would like you to tell us about the vampire known as Angel."
"Well, he's Buffy's boyfriend, he's really old but he doesn't look it and he's very strong and....... and he's smart."
"We were hoping for something more than that. What about his character? Is he good or evil? Things like that."
"Oooh I know that one. He's good. He's always polite and he never hurts anyone unless they are evil like vampires. He always helps the Slayer out. Though Xander says it's just so he can get big smoochies, but I think that he's still got a thing for Buffy. Not more than me though, he's my boyfriend. It's like you know me having a thing for Brad Pitt, it's OK because I could never do anything about it and it's not a serious thing. Not that I couldn't get Brad Pitt though." The Chief Elder was starting to look annoyed and interrupted,
"Thank you Miss Chase that was very.....insightful,"he said politely.
"You may leave now, please send the one who is a werewolf in."
"OK," Cordelia said cheerfully glad to get away from these strange people. She bounded off. Minutes later Oz came walking in,
"Hey man. How can I help?"
"Please tell us about Angel."
"Angel. Well, I don't know much about him. I've only known him a while and half that time he was that evil guy Angelus. Which is really confusing you know? I mean when a guy kills your girlfriend's fish, tries to kill her and stalks her best friend it's hard to get a proper picture of who he used to be. Now though he's seems like a nice guy. Willow says that he's a great friend to her and that's good enough for me. That enough?"
"Yes thank you. Please send in the one named Willow Rosenburg."
"No problem man."
Willow shyly came in.
"Miss Rosenburg tell us about Angel."
"Well he's really nice and good, he helps us a lot with Buffy's slaying and stuff. I feel privileged enough to call him my friend....... I think. Buffy really loves him and she lost him once before, please don't make her lose him again. They like have movie love, most people never find that. I think it would be cruel to take that away from them, cruel beyond words. Buffy and Angel work so hard to protect everyone else from the things they don't know about like vampires, demon snakes, hellmouths, witches and stuff. Give them a chance to be happy. Whatever things Angel may have done in the past he's made up for them a hundred times over and he sure has felt guilty enough. That's it, I don't know what else to say except don't take Angel's soul away."
"Thank you very much, you are dismissed. Please send Mr Giles in."
Willow nodded and left. Giles came striding purposefully in, he wasn't normally very sure of himself but this time he was. He didn't wait for them to ask him to speak he just began,
"Elders of the Romani clan, I beseech you not to take away the soul of the vampire Angel. He is a good man and I like and respect him. He's helped me with my watching many a time, he's saved the Slayer several times and is always willing to help us fight evil whenever we ask. This man has repented for his sins which were committed by Angelus not him. We have forgiven him, now you should."
"Isn't it true that he killed Jenny Calendar, or as we know her Janna? You were in love with her, how can you forgive him so easily?"
"I did love Jenny, but it was Angelus who killed her not Angel. Angel and Angelus are two separate entities, you must see that. You shouldn't blame him for something that the demon Angelus did. I forgave him and I know Jenny did too, her last acts were to attempt to find a way to return Angel's soul. Please also bear in mind, if you take Angel's soul you will not just be killing Angel you will be killing Buffy, the Slayer. She's been through this once before and she barely made it, she shouldn't have to go through it again."
"Thank you Mr Giles. Please send in Mr Alexander Harris."
"Alexander? Oh Xander." Giles left the room. Xander came in looking serious, Angel saw this and wondered why, Xander had always wanted to get rid of him, here was his chance. The Elder began speaking,
"Mr Harris I believe that you don't have the most charitable feelings towards the vampire Angel. Please tell us your feelings."
"Well I used to have a thing for Buffy, but by the way I'm SO over that, anyway Buffy rejected me for him. I guess I felt a bit bitter about that. Now though, never tell him but I kinda think of him as my friend. Plus he's always good to Buffy and they both really deserve to be happy. I'd....... I'd miss him if he went again. Yeuch I can't believe I said that, never tell anyone I'd never live it down. Well I've said my bit now, can I go?"
"Yes Mr Harris after one more thing. Do you really think that Angel only goes slaying with Buffy for," he turned to the woman next to him. "What was that again? Ah that's it, Big smoochies." Xander looked up embarrassed,
"You spoke to Cordelia huh. Well I said it out of annoyance. I was still kinda jealous about Buffy and once you build an image you really have to stick with it. So I pretend I hate Angel when really I don't."
"You can go now. Send in Miss Buffy Summers please." Xander left as fast as he could. Angel sat thinking in his cage about what Xander had said about him being his friend. Angel smiled pleased. He looked up as soon as Buffy entered, she looked desperately worried. He wished he could just go and hug her and make it all better, but he couldn't.
"Miss Summers we'd like you to tell us from a Slayer's point of view what use, if any, Angel's presence has been."
"A Slayer's point of view? OK," she said unsurely. "Well Angel has been of invaluable help loads of times, he helps me patrol and helps with anything I have to do whilst Slaying. He saved my life when the Master had killed me and loads of other times as well."
"Now Miss Summers we'd like you to tell us your feelings about Angel." Buffy took a deep breath, "What can I say? He's sweet, kind, interesting, wonderful. I love him, I love him more than anything. He's my soul mate, my reason for living. Please don't take him away from me. He shouldn't have to suffer for all the things that Angelus did but he still feels guilty. He doesn't deserve to become Angelus again." Silent tears were flowing down Buffy and Angel's faces. He had really been touched by what she had said.
"You may go now Miss Summers, you and your friends will be called soon."
Buffy left the room, her arms folded tightly around her. The Elder turned to Angel and started to speak as soon as she had left, "Angel, please tell us your feelings about this subject. Why should we let you keep your soul? Do you feel any guilt about what you have done?"
"Of course I feel guilty. The faces of all Angelus's victims are burned into my memory. I dream every night about what I, as Angelus have done. Why do I think I should keep my soul? Well I can help the Slayer and her Watcher, but the only answer I can really think of is Buffy. I love her more than life itself. I can't stand the thought of hurting her again, my memories of what I did and said to her last time I was Angelus are so horrific I'd rather be dead than him again and have the power to hurt her. Apart from that I can think of no better reason. Now it's up to you."
The Elder nodded,
"Thank you," he turned to John, who had been watching the proceedings. "Bring the friends of Angel in." John left without a word and soon in came the Scooby Gang lead by Giles, Buffy was at the back as though hoping to delay what she considered the inevitable. "We have heard your testimonies and so has Angel," a light was turned on by Angel's cage. Xander groaned out loud realising that Angel had heard everything. "After consideration we have decided to take the soul of Angel from him," Buffy felt her knees buckle and Willow grab her arm to hold her up,
"No please no." Buffy cried.
"We are not finished yet Miss Summers. His soul will be returned but in a way that will mean it can never be lost again." The Elder noted the surprised smile on Buffy's face and knew they had done the right thing. "You must all leave now whilst we perform the ritual." John ushered the group out. The Elder turned to speak to Angel, "You have proven to us that you are sorry and we have realised that you are essential to the Slayer's job. A vampire who has so many people who care about him has to be pretty special. We feel that it would not just hurt you to take your soul it would hurt all of those people, not to mention that we would be releasing a dangerous vampire upon the world." Angel smiled at John, the Elder did not know of their deal. "We will now get ready for the ritual."
Buffy sat outside the barn in a field with her friends. Her sense of joy had now been marred by a sense of worry. She turned to Willow, "What if it doesn't work, what if they take Angel's soul but can't give it back? I don't think I can kill him again." Willow made some reassuring comments and hugged her friend. Meanwhile Xander and Cordelia were having an argument.
"You told them about my 'big smoochies' comment. How could you?"
"It's not my fault, they wanted to know about Angel and stuff so I told them what you said about him."
"I didn't really mean it you idiot."
"Idiot? I'm not an idiot you numbskull."
"Numbskull?" Xander and Cordelia suddenly made for each other and started kissing passionately. The others noticed this and started laughing. The two broke apart blushing and sat back down, apart. The sun was about to come up by the time Angel came out. Buffy leapt up and ran to him. She threw her arms around him and he did the same,
"Angel are you OK?" she asked.
"I'm great," Angel smiled.
"Oh God, the sun's about to come up. You have to go back inside. Quick." Buffy pushed him toward the barn. She stopped as she noticed the Chief Elder come out,
"That will not be necessary Miss Summers. We didn't tell you as we weren't sure it would work, but the only way we could find to give Angel his soul permanently was to make him human again. He doesn't need to hide from the Sun any more."
"Human? Really?" Buffy asked.
"Really." Buffy jumped up and kissed Angel and she smiled at him,
"You're human. We can be together always. How do you feel about this though?" she asked suddenly concerned.
"I'm delighted. I can do all the things that I've always wanted to do with you." Everyone looked at him shocked, "Not that, not that I'm ruling it out, I meant stuff like go to the beach in the day. Go out for a meal, see my first dawn and sunset in a long time. And see you in the sun light," he said to Buffy.
They kissed each other as the sun came up. The others had decide that Buffy and Angel wouldn't be coming up for air any time soon and had taken off for the farmhouse. As the first rays of sun hit them Angel broke off from their kiss and looked at her,
"What's wrong Angel? Didn't the spell work?" she asked worried.
"No, it's not that. It's just...... you look even more beautiful in the sunlight," he said. Buffy's heart melted. The day she had dreamed of had come. She was able to see her boyfriend in the day and she couldn't be happier. He suddenly looked thoughtful,
"Buffy, one more thing."
"What?"
"I feel like I haven't eaten in over two hundred years. Let's go and get something to eat." Buffy laughed and the two set off arm in arm towards the farm house talking eagerly about the future they would now have together.
THE END.
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