If Buffy could have moved any closer to him, I think she would have. She was ready to protect him at all costs, and I admired that. Luckily, she didn't have to be alone.
I moved to stand on the other side of Angel, and they both looked at me in surprise.
Cordy came and stood behind me, followed by Willow and Oz. George completed a small half-circle around him, and we waited for the other's decisions.
Mandy was the first to make up her mind. I'm not sure why she did it, her being the Slayer and all, but she came into the circle. Bobby and Steven moved to the side for a moment and talked. When they looked back up, they too came into the circle.
Only Giles, Jerry, Kathryn, Mrs. Summers, and Juan were left. Jerry looked at us all for a moment, then stood and walked to us. He told me later that he looked into all of our souls, and had found them all a little scuffed, but no less than Angel's was.
Kathryn was the next to make the decision. She trusted the Team, and the Team could be trusted. Even if they said they wanted to be friends with a vampire. Mrs. Summers just gave Buffy a hard look, then also stood up. I guess she wanted her daughter to be happy, even if she didn't approve of the choice.
Giles and Juan would be the hardest to convince. They had both lost loved ones to vampire attacks, Giles to this particular vampire. Could they forget the past?
Juan suddenly stood up and walked over to us. "You remind me of a man I once knew in Brazil. He could kill a man dead for looking at him wrong, but I once saw him gently pluck a kitten out of a tree for a little girl. You are a dangerous man, Angel. But, you are also gentle."
Now, only Giles was left. We all stared at him, trying to figure out what he would do.
"Giles, when I first found out I was a werewolf, I came to you because I felt guilty for attacking my friends. I even attacked Willow, the girl I loved. You told me that I wasn't the one who did those awful things, the werewolf did them. Well, now I say the same to you. Angel didn't kill Ms. Calendar, the demon did. He had no more control over the demon than I do over the wolf. I lock myself up in chains around the full moon, Angel's chains are his soul."
Giles looked at Oz for a moment. "I... Can't.... Not yet. Maybe not ever."
We all nodded in understanding. If Angel had caused Cordy to be hurt, I would have hated him with all my heart. We just had to give Giles time. If he was going to come around, he would. If not, he would still use Angel to help against the war against demons.
I turned and hugged Cordelia to my chest. Things may not be perfect, but they were improving. I had Cordy back, I had a daughter... I had my life back. Who needed perfection when you could have that?
* * *
Well, that's it. What was supposed to be a short little story, turned into a monster. Bless my friends for putting up with me while I was writing it.
I'm still debating on whether or not I sould write an epilogue where Xander gets introduced to Alex as her father. Tell me what you think. Please?
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