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Two weeks later…

Angel sighed as he made his way down the lobby stairs. It had been hectic during these past few days. Following the wedding, Angel and Cordelia had gone on their honeymoon for two weeks in Greece. However, they had been called back a week earlier when a deal between Wesley and a gangster went awry due to ninjas. Soon afterwards, Wesley's father, Roger, had arrived at Wolfram and Hart, along with the ninjas, which turned out to be cyborgs. Roger then revealed his true colours by attempting to steal Angel's free will and when he threatened Fred, Wesley shot him dead, only to reveal Roger as a cyborg. Distraught by the thought that he had killed his father, Wesley left for England to visit his real father, while the cyborgs hadn't been seen since. But that wasn't the only problem Angel was having

"Just give me what I want," Spike said

"You're not getting an office, Spike. All you do is annoy me"

"Job well done then. At least give me Wesley's office, since he's gone"

"He's not gone. Just on a leave of absence"

"Yeah, all because he thought he killed his father. Boo-hoo. Try killing your mother when she's coming onto you!" Spike shouted at Angel's retreating back

"Wow, that explains everything," Harmony said

Spike shook his head and went to follow after Angel, but Harmony stopped him

"Look, it was a very long time ago," he said

"You have a parcel"

"Who would be sending-?"

"Post to a ghost?" Harmony asked, "Don't know. Kinda heavy"

She set the small box down and grabbed a knife, before opening the box. A bright flash of light quickly appeared, then disappeared, leaving Harmony blind for a second and Spike standing before the desk with a bored look

"Well, that was a slap and a tickle," he said, before walking away, "If you've got anymore like that, I'll be in your boss' office, telling him what a miserable bas-"

At that moment, Spike struck the door and bounced right off

"Oh, bugger, that hurt! Hang on"

Angel opened the door, as Spike stood up and began touching himself

"I can feel," he said, before touching Angel, "I can touch"

"Stop touching me"

Spike then tasted his own blood and smiled

"I can taste"

He then nabbed Angel's mug and drained all the blood out of it

"Mm, oh god, it's bloody ambrosia. Is this otter?"

"Hey, what's going on with the phones?" Gunn asked, looking towards Harmony, who was squinting her eyes in pain

"I'm back, Charlie-boy, that's what!" Spike cried, hugging him

"He's corporeal," Gunn said, "How?"

"Don't know, don't care, but give them a kiss from me when you see them"

"Harmony, what's going on with the phones?" Angel asked

"Don't know, boss," Harmony replied, "All there is this 'eeeeeeee' noise"

"Harm," Spike grinned devilishly, before kissing her, then turning to Angel, "Need to borrow your gal Friday for a moment"

"Permission denied"

"Wasn't asking"

"What the hell, Spike?" Harmony cried, "You can't just do th-"

"That is a very pretty skirt you're wearing," Spike said

Harmony shared a grin with Spike, before turning to Angel

"Going on a long lunch"

Spike grinned and headed off with Harmony, as Angel growled and headed into his office, followed by Gunn, as he sat at his desk and went to drink from his mug, but then realized that it was empty, just as Fred entered

"There's something going on with the gauges," she said, "They're spiking badly. It's like something catastrophic is about to happen"

"Wonderful, more great news," Angel said, "He drank all my mug. Harmony!"

"She's having a nooner with Blondie Bear, remember?" Gunn said

"What?" Fred cried

"Nooner. It's when you have sex-"

"I know what a nooner is, Charles. You're saying she's with Spike?"

"Oh yeah, he's corporeal again," Angel said, "Around the same time everything is going crazy and I can't believe I'm just realizing that now"

"Angel, what the hell is going on here?" Cordelia asked, bursting into the office, "Things are going loco and it's not just the phones. The employees are going mad. One just bludgeoned another with a fire extinguisher"

"Seems like we've got trouble," Eve said, walking in, "That starts with 'T', rhymes with 'P', which stands for prophecy. Shanshu"

"Oh god, not this again," Angel groaned

"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked, "Angel is the contender for the Shanshu"

"Not right now," Eve explained, "That is for a vampire with a soul. Right now, there are two vampires with souls. Now he's back, everything is going crazy"

"But Spike had a soul before he died," Fred said, "So why now?"

"That was before he died and became a Champion. But now that's he corporeal again, all bets are off. So, how'd you do it? How'd you bring him back?"

"We didn't. Something else did"

Angel sighed and left his office, following Spike's scent to an office room, just as Spike walked out, fully dressed and sporting two puncture wounds on his neck

"I don't know what you put in the water here, but your secretary just tried to tear me a few new ones. Had to put her porch lights out. For the best"

"Oh yeah, you're a real hero," Angel said

"And that's our problem," Eve said

"You're blaming this on us?" Spike asked

"No, she's blaming it on you"

"Two vampires with souls can't exist with each other. The equilibrium is getting thrown off," Eve continued

"Fine then, I'm outta here. Screw this place, screw this city and screw you too, Angel, for good measure," Spike said

"Leaving this town won't help, Spike"

"Well, how are you gonna fix it, Mr Hero?"

"Wesley may not be here, but his office is," Eve said, "Maybe we could find something out there about the prophecy"

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"You didn't read the prophecy," Sirk smirked, "You might as well have read a five-year-old's take on the Shanshu"

"Just tell us what's going on," Angel said

Sirk sighed and reached for the nearest book, before opening to the Shanshu article. Angel and Spike were waiting with bated breath, along with everyone else

"The root of the tree will split in two. And each thing will seek nourishment from the buried river," Sirk read

"Sounds like a gardening tip," Spike retorted

"It's metaphor. Please tell me I don't have to explain metaphor to you people"

"Sirk, the text," Angel said

"Ah. Here we are. "Storm unleashed. The balance will falter until the vampire with a soul drinks from the cup of perpetual torment"," Sirk finished

"More metaphor," Angel said

"No, that's real"

"So there's a cup?" Cordelia asked

"Perpetual torment? Just know that's not gonna taste very good," Spike grimaced

"He will have the weight of worlds upon him, binding his limbs, grinding his bones to meal until he saves creation... or destroys it," Sirk read

"Where does it say the cup is?" Gunn asked

"It does offer some details, yes. Housed in the hidden city of Petra. Mm-hmm. Disappears during the crusades. Surfaces again at the Vatican. Vanishes in the third year of the inquisition. Then...yes. Interesting. It's in Nevada," Sirk said

"Nevada?" Cordelia asked

"Death Valley, to be exact. "The earth will thrash and mark the appearance of the cup at the columns. And the desert will swallow cup and house whole and" – this can only be loosely translated. "And the fat lady will sing no more"

"Opera," Angel said, "The columns was an opera house in Death Valley. It was buried in an earthquake in '38. Made headlines in Los Angeles. That's only a few hours away. Where's Spike?"

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Two hours later…

Angel arrived at the opera house in Death Valley, seeing the Viper nearby. Growling and mentally reminding himself to stake Spike, he entered the opera house, instantly picking up his grandchilde's scent. Moving silently, Angel made his way through the darkness, before coming out into a large stage area. And there, sitting on a pedestal, was the Cup of Perpetual Torment. Angel leapt down silently to the stage, just as Spike dropped down beside him from the rafters above

"Thought it'd be a little less goldeny. What, with the torment and all"

Angel sighed and rolled his eyes

"So, what now?"

Spike sighed, then suddenly punched Angel in the jaw, throwing him away

"What do you think?" he grinned

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