Part II
"This is all my fault." Angel moans but he gets no words of sympathy as everyone in the room agrees with him.
"Fault, doesn't matter. How do we fix this?" Giles states as he knows Willow and Xander are letting their anger cloud their judgment. Buffy is as safe as she can be locked in a cell. As much as Angelus rages, he won't be able to get out.
"I don't know. I don't even know what happened in the first place." Willow mutters. Her frustration and worry clear on her tense features as she paces.
Xander wishes he were more of the research guy but he knows he is leader guy so he does what he is supposed to and takes charge. "Angel quit moping, Willow get it together, Giles keep doing the watcher thing. Buffy needs our help so we need a plan. First order of business as I see it: get Buffy's soul then we can rip Angelus out and put her back. Sounds easy enough. Ok people get it in gear. Come on hop to it."
Everyone is surprised by Xander's tone. They all still remember high school Xander. They are even more surprised when the find themselves listening. They all share a look before replying "Yes sir." Willow adds a fake salute to her reply which almost brings a smile to Xander's face but he resists so he doesn't ruin his new leader image.
Giles heads off to India to acquire another of the orb things needed for the soul spell. Since he took a slayer team, Xander imagines the price was still being negotiated. Willow and Angel went to the temple of the being Angel tried to bargain with to see what they could learn there. By using a portal, they were there in minutes and should be back by tonight. Unfortunately, that leaves Xander with not much to do but worry about his friend being turned into a vampire.
He is watching on a monitor as one of the slayer guards slides a packet of blood under the bars of Angel's cage. He dislikes the idea of feeding him while he is in Buffy but Xander knows a hungry Angelus is more trouble than a feed one. Turns out his concerns were sound as Angelus leaps across the cage catching the arm of the girl sliding the blood into the cage. He pulls her close to the bars and wraps his other hand around the girl's throat. She is a slayer but weakened by donating to Buffy and pinned against the bars she can't break Angelus grip. Xander is so going to lecture me. she thinks.
Xander calmly walks into the holding area as Angelus demands "Let me free or I rip her throat out." The other slayers are unsure of what to do and Xander doesn't blame them. Most are just teenagers who don't want to watch their friend die. There is too much death in their world as it is. Xander has been around a bit more so he raises the stun gun in his hand and zaps them both. Angelus loses his grip on the girl as they both fall twitching to the ground. Just for good measure, Xander zaps Angelus for a minute longer. "You aren't going anywhere." he tells him before walking back out.
By nightfall, Angel and Willow have returned. Unfortunately, they don't have good news. Not even Willow could force the being to speak with them and its temple didn't hold anything useful. Willow hasn't given up hope and dove into research mode hoping to find something.
When Giles checks in, he has good news: the orb has been obtained and they are on their way back. Due to the orbs magical nature, Willow can't just portal them back but Giles is pushing as hard as he can to get back quickly.
In his cell, Angelus paces anxiously. This new body ripples with power. He never dreamed that slayers possessed this much power. It may only be Buffy that is this powerful as she has always been unique. He has study his cell closely enough to know he won't be breaking out of it. That leaves waiting for them to make another mistake. Something this new body is not good at. He vents some of his frustration by punching the ancient stone walls and banging on the cell bars. He delights in the slayers' reactions to his misbehaving. They are clearly freaked out to see the great Buffy Summers as a vampire. He thinks it brings another aspect of their mortality all too close to home. He decides to taunt them a little "Come close little ones. Let me taste you. I can smell your fear, you know. The life of slayer is short but my life is eternal. Join me and avoid your death."
They don't reply but their eyes tell him he hit home. He smiles showing his elongated teeth before returning to his pacing. He is now confident he will get his chance to escape. He just has to wait for it.
"Found something." Willow joyfully announces. "There is a ritual which will restore a person turned into a vampire." she explains as she proudly shows Giles the book she is reading from.
"Willow, this ritual restores the body but doesn't bring the person back to life." Giles sadly informs her.
"Exactly, but we don't need to restore Buffy to life since she never died. Normally, you have to die to become a vampire but that is not what happened in Buffy's case. We just need to get Angelus out and put Buffy's soul back." Willow says with growing confidence.
"It might work" Giles reasons following her logic. "but it is risky. Buffy may not be restored." he points out.
"Either way we need to get Angelus out which is what this spell will do, right? Worse case we put Buffy in suspended animation till we find a permanent solution. Sounds like a good plan to me. What do you need to get started?" Xander states.
"The best time for the ritual is a full moon which is next week. That will give me plenty of time to gather the items we don't have in house." Willow says.
"Great." Xander replies.
Angel just sits brooding through the whole conversation. He has been zero help in solving this. With adjusting to being alive again and all his guilt, his head has not been in the game. He needs to snap out of it. Buffy needs him.
After everyone else has left, Willow makes her way over to Angel. She places her hand on his shoulder and waits for him to look up at her. "She will be ok. We can fix this." she promises him.
"You shouldn't have to." he replies before getting up and storming out of the library. He runs to a nearby balcony no longer afraid that it is daylight. There he tries to let the sun's warmth calm him but it doesn't help.
Lost in his thoughts, he doesn't hear come up behind him. Without his enhanced vampire senses, he probably wouldn't have heard anyway. It is not till two young strong arms slide their way up his back and then around his neck does he notice her. She turns him towards her and kisses him full on the lips. He savors the new sensation that accompany being alive. As a vampire, he couldn't truly appreciate the warmth of her lips or the slightly berry flavor of them. Their kiss deepens as each expresses what is in their hearts but hidden by their lives.
When they finally beak apart, she pulls his head to her shoulder and rubs his hair. "Don't worry. I will make everything better." she says as her face distorts and she bites deeply into his neck.
Angel awakens screaming "Noooo!" and drenched in sweat. His door explodes open as the slayers on guard duty rush into the room. They pause sensing no threat. One even admires his nearly naked form.
"Nightmare." he explains and waves them out of the room. As they leave the one who checked him out, smiles and winks. Angel finds his heart beating faster and blood rushing from the beautiful young woman's attention. Being alive is very distracting. His body has so many needs and urges. Being a vampire was much simpler.
Strapped to a table, Angelus struggles against his bonds as the slayers carrying him bring him onto the castle's roof. They lock his table into a stand which resembles some sort of Alter. Druid if Angelus guess is correct.
"You don't have to tie me up to have play you know." he taunts them. One punches him hard in the gut while no one else is looking. He thinks this one likes having him in this body. He thinks this slayer would like to take care of two problems by killing this body. One more thing for him to work with.
Willow and Giles start the spell while Angel and Xander watch. Energy flows around Buffy's prone form as the spell starts to take shape. Angelus fights harder against his restrains sensing his danger. He feels one restrain start to pull free of the table so he focuses on it. His new body's strength is incredible.
The sound of wood splintering alerts Angel that Angelus is about to break free. He darts forward into the spell's area of effect and grabs Buffy's now free arm. It takes all his strength and body weight to restrain her but he manages. He hangs on fiercely as Angelus struggles against him.
"Angel, get clear. I am not sure what will happen if you are in the area effect." Willow shouts to him as sweat pours down her face showing the effort this spell is costing her. It is taking everything Giles has to just keep his part going. He isn't aware of anything but the spell.
"Just finish it." Angel shouts back as a calm comes over him.
The serine look in his eyes actually strikes free into Angelus' cold heart. "No. I won't go back in my cage!" he shouts. Summoning his dark will he throws Angel off. He then rips the other restrains free and leaps to his feet. He lunges for Willow but Angel is there to block him. Angelus laughs at his weak old body as he lifts it high into the air. "Not this time, hero." he tells Angel coldly as he throws him across the roof.
Once Angel is thrown clear, Willow unleashes the full force of the spell. It engulfs Buffy/Angelus and they scream. The sound is one of primal fury and pain but quickly fades as Buffy's body falls back onto the table like a puppet with its strings cut. Willow pulls out the orb containing Buffy's soul and finishes her spell by releasing Buffy soul back to her body.
Buffy wakes with a cry. Bolting upright she finds herself wearing the remains of leg and arm restrains and on the castle roof with her friends looking at her strangely.
"Buffy?" Willow asks tentatively.
"Will, what is going on? Is my hair a mess?" Buffy quips back hoping to lighten the clearly intense mood on the roof.
"Buffy!" her friends shouts as they pig pile on her. So happy to have their friend back, they don't notice that Angel hasn't gotten up from where he landed. Buffy is the first to see him.
"Angel!" she shouts and rushes to his side. She is confused to see his chest rise and fall in an uneven, ragged rhythm and terrified to see all the blood pooling beneath him. She lifts him onto her lap to hold him and get a look at his wound. A piece of wood is driven deep into his chest right about where his heart is.
Looking down at the wood jutting from his chest, he says with a weak laugh "Ironic, isn't it."
"Oh Angel. What happened?" Buffy says as tears start to fall while she strokes his hair and face lovingly.
"It doesn't matter. You are ok. That is what is important. I love you." he says as blood leaks from his lips. He gingerly touches her face willing all he should have said into that one touch.
They have both seen enough death to know his is coming. She looks to Will for some small hope but Will sadly shakes her head and then turns her face into Xander's chest for comfort. Giles staggers over to Buffy and puts his arm on her shoulder looking down on her in his fatherly way making it clear he wishes he could take her pain away.
Buffy looks back at Angel but his eyes are already growing lifeless. "I love you too." she whispers hoping enough of him is still there to hear her. A faint smile forms on his lips letting her know he did. She leans forward and kisses him goodbye.
"You are worthy." the thing in the temple says to Angel as he finds himself once more in front of it. Before he can figure out if the last few days were real or just a test, a tendril of darkness ripples towards him and engulfs him. Angel screams long and loud before the tendril is done with him. It drops him to the temple floor as the thing returns to where it came from. Alone in the dark, Angel takes his first real breath in centuries. Finally, he can be the man she deserves.