What is it Worth to You?
"She is not responding. Cast it again!" Xander orders. His fear is clear in his voice. His team has never seen this side of him, they all know how much she means to their leader but they have never seen him lose control this way. Still, he trained them well so they jump to fulfill his order. They grasp hands to aid in their casting. They pour as much of themselves as they dare into the spell. They are relived to hear Xander shout "She is stabilizing!" before the weakness creeping up their limbs overwhelms them and darkness greets them.
Angel stands before the glowing crystal unable to believe the site before him. He turns to the being existing next to him with his fists clenched in rage. He shouts "This is not part of our bargain!!" Angel cannot see a smile on the being for the ever shifting darkness that comprises it's form has no face but he knows it is there. He was a fool to try this. He should have known better.
The being's replies simply "You said you would sacrifice anything you had."
"In me! I am prepared to trade anything I have. Not another! (in a lower sadder voice) Never her. You are violating our agreement." Angel screams back with his fist clenched in rage.
The darkness roils with anger "How dare you question me! We both know she holds the largest part of your heart. It is not our fault you were not more careful. Our business is completed!"
The flash and shockwave that highlights the being's departure are of the same Hollywood dream special effects that all these "higher" beings seem to like but are wasted on Angel. All the effects do is remind him what ego maniacs these being are. He should not have provoked it. It is its job to twist any bargain. Angel knows he should have been more careful. Now, another woman he loves is going to die because of him. Pulling his despair on along with his long black coat, he makes his way out of the temple. He ignores the smell of his own flesh burning in the morning sunlight while he rushes to his car and jumps in. He will find a way to save her. She won't die because of him. The smell of burnt rubber mingles with the lingering burned flesh smell leaving behind a most horrible stench all too fitting for this dark temple.
Back at headquarters everyone is one edge waiting for the helicopter transporting Buffy to arrive. Before the rotors have even stopped moving, a team has off loaded Buffy's stretcher. They race her to the medical section where the finest doctors, mages, and shamans wait to treat her.
Xander paces nervously outside desperate for any news. Two slayers stand guard on the door to keep him from disturbing the medical staff one more time. Logically, he knows his presence in the room would only hamper the medical staff's efforts but his heart and soul scream he should be at his friend's side.
An eternity later, the doctor in charge, Dr. Thomas Mayne, comes out to speak with Xander. He explains that something is draining Buffy's life-force. Nothing they know has managed to stop whatever dark magic is harming her. They have managed to stabilizer her but at a high cost. Several members of the medical staff sacrificed part of their life force to buy time. Even with all the slayers and staff, this will only buy a few days.
Willow focused her will on the circle before her. Sweat pours down her brow as the power tries to rage out her control but her will proves stronger. She shapes the energy into a lid to seal the breach in the fabric of reality. This is one Hellmouth that won't be causing anymore trouble. Finally able to rest, she crawls into her hotel bed and quickly falls asleep.
She jolts awake as pain suddenly races through her. It takes her a moment to realize the pain is not hers. It is coming from someone close to her. Focusing, she tries to figure out who. "Buffy!" she shouts to an empty room as she drags herself out of bed. After jamming everything she brought with her into her suitcase, she tries to open a portal home. She almost fails; a clear sign of her exhaustion.
She steps through into Slayer headquarters just outside the infirmary. There she surprises a worried Xander. "What happened?" she demands.
"We don't know. We were running a pretty basic opt. Slightly larger than normal vamp nest but still no big deal. Suddenly, Buffy went down. No one saw her take a hit. I ordered Amanda to pull Buffy out of combat zone. I figured she got hit by a rock or something and was knocked out. When Amanda brought her up, her heart wasn't beating. Thanks to the quick work of our trauma team, she was revived but never regained consciousness. I ordered the mission scrubbed and made a bee line back for base. Dr. Mayne believes something is draining Buffy's life-force. We are keeping her going using "donations" from the rest of the slayers and staff but this will only buy us a few days." explains Xander.
"Let me see what I can learn." Willow announces as enters the medbay. She forces the sway out of her step and shapes her will into the spell she needs. Sitting cross legged on the floor, she projects her essence into the astral plane. There she traces the line of power bleeding out of Buffy to its source. She is stunned to see the trail leads her to Angel. Buffy's life-force is draining into him and then going somewhere else. She wants to try to follow this new line of power but her body has long past its limits. She can no longer ignore the pull of her body. As she settles back into her body she tries to wake so she can tell Xander what she learned but cannot. Sleep will not be held off any longer.
Xander watches Willow hoping she will be able to find the answer. He is concerned when he notices Willow stir but not wake. The shaman on duty assures him, she is fine and just resting. He explains that Astral travel is very taxing and she will probably sleep for several hours but he promises to alert Xander if anything changes with either of his friends. He politely suggests it would be a good time for Xander to rest as well.
Angel has managed to cross the world in only two days. He races into the slayer headquarters only to by met by a very angry Willow. "I am sorry. It's not what I wanted." he blurts out.
She doesn't care. Buffy has worsened over the last few days as the drain on her has increased. Donations are barely keeping her alive and have laid up over half the slayers. "I am sorry too." she says as she thrusts her arm into his chest. She grabs his soul and rips it free.
Angel screams as Angelus awakens. He only has a moment to orient himself before slayers grab his arms. He sees that annoying witch Willow standing before him. He sees tears on her face. "What is the matter lov? Don't worry I am back to play with you." he sneers.
"It didn't work" she replies while holding a small glowing ball of energy which he recognizes as his soul. She forms a sword out of fire which she drives deep into him.
Pain engulfs Angelus as the blade touches him. Even in his long life, he has never experienced pain such as this and he has been tortured by some real sadistic beings. "What did (grunts) you do to me?" he growls through the pain.
She doesn't answer. She just keeps moving the sword around within him. Her face is grim.
He never thought the little witch had this in her. Torture just didn't seem her thing. I guess it is always the quiet ones he laughs to himself. As he fights for his sanity, he finds something new within him. It is a line of power. It is disgustingly pure but strong. Desperate enough to risk the goodness, he grabs the line and pulls on it. Much to his surprise, he is pulled out of his body. He finds himself in a bed with breasts?
Willow is thrown backward as power flares in Angelus. Before she can recover her sight, he collapses with only the slayers holding him up right. She is relieved to see that the line of power coming from Buffy has been severed. However, she is confused that she senses no sign of the demon Angelus. She hopes he was destroyed by that surge of power at the end. She debates for a moment before she decides to risk returning Angel's soul to his now empty body. When she puts the soul back, she feels something is different. Something is missing but she can't figure it out.
Angel draws a deep breathe as he returns to his body. He drops to his hands and knees as the slayers release him. He gulps great amounts of air as his lung struggle to remember how to work. He feels his heart pound in his chest. He tastes blood in his mouth. He looks up at a stunned Willow and can't smell her blood or even her scent. He struggles to stand as everyone around him steps back clearly unsure of what to make of this.
"Angel?" Willow asks tentatively. She swears she sees his chest rising and falling like he was breathing. He is clearly freaking out so she slowly and gently touches her hand to his throat. She yanks her hand back as she feels a pulse.
"I am alive?" he stammers with a voice full of wonder. He stares at his hands, turning them over and back again in wonder. "I am ALIVE!" he shouts as he wraps Willow in a crushing embrace. "Thank you, thank you." he babbles.
Wrapped in his arms, Willow waves the slayers about to kill him for grabbing her off. She gently separates from Angel and looks into his eyes. "I don't know what happened. I am not sure if it will last. You see Buffy" she is explaining when Angel interrupts her.
"Buffy. Oh Buffy. Is she ok? I was trying to protect my soul by making a deal. It went wrong because the being tricked me. I told it could have whatever part of my heart it wanted as payment. Based on my research, I thought it would steal my emotions or my memories. I didn't expect it to literally drain Buffy. I was such a fool. I am lost Will. After LA, I am lost. I just wanted to find myself again. I don't know what I was thinking." he babbles on.
"I broke the connection so she should be fine." she says while not looking at him. She still feels guilty about torturing anyone even Angelus. She tries even harder to ignore the part of her that liked it. "Let's go check on her in the infirmary" she suggests. She signals for the slayer guards to stay here but they shake their heads in unison. Xander made it crystal clear to them they were to stay with Angel at all times.
Looking around Angelus realizes that where ever he is, everyone knows something is off as there are several exhausted looking slayers circling the bed he is in. None hold weapons though and this new body feels so powerful. He leaps out of bed and enjoys watching them scatter. They are blocking the door but Angelus is not in a hurry to leave just yet. He wishes vampire's cast a reflection as it would be useful to know what this body looks like. The parts he has seen seem familiar. He stalks around the room keeping the slayers on edge while he tries to think of his next move. He could just rush through them but without knowing where he is or what time of day it is, that would likely gain him little. Better to get a better feel of this situation before acting. Clearly, this body belongs to someone they care for otherwise they would have just staked him and been done with it. He is missing something.
"Buffy!" Willow shouts in horror as they walk into thee infirmary to find several slayers blocking the door to Buffy's room and Buffy with her features contorted into a vampire state.
Angelus sees the look on the witch's face and the look on his old body's face. He laughs long and hard as he realizes where he now resides.