Chapter 28
Wesley and Lilah came in through the front doors to find Fred, Connor, and Cordelia watching the monitor. Buffy sat on the stairs again with her resting on the pillar.
"What, no cake?" Lilah asked.
"Where is it?" Fred asked.
"Where is what?"
"Angel's soul." Cordelia said.
"Oh, that what."
"She didn't take it." Wesley said.
"How do you know?" Connor asked.
"Because she told me."
"And you believe her? Lying's her job." Gunn said.
"He's got a point." Lilah opened her coat and turned around, inadvertently revealing her wound to the others. "You wanna search me?"
"What happened?" Cordelia asked.
"She was injured in the attack on Wolfram and Hart." Wesley said.
"The place was a slaughterhouse. How'd she make it out?" Gunn asked.
"Got lucky." Lilah said.
"Ah, maybe it was more than that." Cordelia walked up to Lilah. "What were you doing downstairs with Angelus?"
"She was gathering intel." Wesley said.
"With a crowbar?" Gunn asked. "She's the only one to make it out of Wolfram and Hart alive, then she shows up right after Angel's soul goes missing."
"I've already told you, she didn't have anything to do with that."
"Maybe she knows who did." Connor said.
"Or who's controlling the Beast." Fred said.
"Controlling?" Lilah asked.
"Angelus thinks rock-boy's just the muscle." Gunn said. "Not that I trust him any more than you."
"Everything that's happened…." Cordelia sighed. "It's part of a bigger plan with something even worse than the Beast sketching the blueprints."
"That's what he's been trying to hide." Wesley said. "There might be something in the text we…."
"Text?"
Wesley held up a book. "Lilah found a passage in Rhinehardt's Compendium."
"But we searched that already." Fred said. "There's nothing in there."
"Because all references to the Beast have been erased in this dimension."
"I got my copy of Rhinehardt's…. way out of town." Lilah said. "I'm surprised you didn't think of that."
"That's why Angel didn't remember the Beast." Gunn said.
"His memory's been wiped clean, just like the book's." Wesley said.
"Why does Angelus remember?" Connor asked.
"Because his mind wasn't here when the spell or whatever was cast, right?" Fred asked.
"We should compare this passage with the information Wolfram and Hart extracted from Lorne." Wesley said. "There might be…."
"Yeah, have fun with that." Gunn grabbed the flamethrower.
"Charles…."
"Somebody needs to be downstairs, make sure nobody else tries to intel our boy." Gunn left the lobby and went downstairs.
"Let him go." Cordelia said to Fred when she tried to follow. "I know this is hard. I know we're all tired and hurting, but we have to stay focused. We need to figure out what's coming, and how to get Angel back before it does, because if this is as bad as I think it is, we'll need him more than ever."
Lilah looked at Buffy. "Ah, the infamous Slayer."
"Do I know you?" Buffy asked, glancing at the lawyer.
"Not personally, but I know you quite well. You've got a file of your own at Wolfram and Hart…. And a pretty large chunk of Angel's as well."
"Goody for me. Let me run out and publish it right now!"
"So, I'm just dying to know…. Was it really the shaman that released Angel's soul, or was it you?"
Buffy stood up and left Lilah sitting on the stairs. She decided to go downstairs and tell Gunn to go on. When she got down there, she heard Angelus saying, "At least you've got the love of a good woman…. Till she dumps you for a guy with a bigger horizon."
"It's her life." Gunn said.
"Oh, wait…. did I miss it? Did she already let you down easy? Cheer up, buddy. Not like we didn't see it coming. Especially after what happened to her old professor. Come on, even Angel's not that stupid. The way things changed between you two…. the furtive looks, all that guilt. Mmm…. There's nothing like your first murder. Don't worry, I won't tell what our little girl did."
"She didn't…."
"Yeah! So, it was you! Stepping up and being the man!"
"I did what I had to do."
"I guess Fred didn't quite see it that way, huh? Wow. You do a chick a favor, you think she'd be grateful, but no. Mm-mm. She still goes for the broody smart guy, all mysterious and tortured. I guess, when you think about it, for the first time in your life, you just weren't dark enough." Gunn fired the flamethrower at Angelus, sending him back. Angelus chuckled. "Maybe there's hope for you after all, Chuck." He looked up at Buffy standing on the stairs. "Now, get out."
"What?"
"My Slayer's here and I want alone time with her."
Gunn shook his head. "I'm not leaving her alone with you. You've done enough to her already."
"Oh, I haven't even begun. That was just the tip of the burg, my friend."
"I'm not leaving."
"Gunn, go on upstairs." Buffy said, walking the rest of the way down the stairs, her eyes never leaving Angelus'.
"What?"
"Go on upstairs."
"You're not thinking straight. You haven't been right since his soul went missing."
"She wasn't right a long time before that, Charlie Boy." Angelus said, still holding Buffy's gaze. "Well, not right by your standards…."
"Gunn, if you want him to be quiet, let me deal with him."
"Buffy, he's got some sort of power over you." Gunn said. He stepped in front of Buffy so she couldn't see Angelus anymore. "Snap out of it."
Buffy looked up at Gunn calmly. "No he doesn't. But you're a different story. You've let him get to you and now…. Now he can get to you anytime he wants to and eventually he's going to push one too many buttons and you'll make a mistake and just like that…." Buffy snapped her fingers in front of Gunn's face so quick he almost didn't see it happen. "You've made the last mistake you'll ever make."
"Ooooow!" Angelus said. "What a way with words this one has."
"Trust me on this, Gunn. Let me deal with him." He didn't say anything. He just nodded and walked up the stairs.
Angelus chuckled. "Well, you must be desperate to spend more alone time with me."
"All I told him was the truth."
He smiled. "That's all I ever do, but nobody believes me."
"Until the moment they realize their mistake."
"Which is usually when they take that last breath. I'm proud of you, Buff. You've learned to twist the truth into something scary and painful. Brings a tear to the eye."
"I didn't twist any truth. That's your game."
"And you're giving it away." He started to pace. "Tell me truthfully…. Do you even care anymore?"
"About what?"
"About the lives you save? About all the good you think you're doing?" He glanced at her, watching the wheels in her brain turn. "Do you still care like you used to? Could you kill your precious Angel again if it came down to it? You couldn't kill that blob of energy you were manipulated into thinking of as your sister. You're doing it out of habit now."
"Habit?"
"You've been doing the same thing for so long…."
"Because it's the right thing to do."
"Face it, Buff…. You slept with Spike because he was dark…. Because you wanted what you had with me. You harbor that darkness deep down inside you."
"You're right. And it'll stay buried where it's at. As much as I've done for this world and the little I have to show for it…. I'd still work my ass off to save it. And yes, I could kill Angel if it came down to it."
Angelus chuckled. "I see right through you. If I asked you to come in here, you would do it."
"No I wouldn't."
"You can't resist."
"Yes, I can."
"The keys are in your back pocket. I can see the outline of them." He laughed quietly to himself. "I can see a lot more than that in those pants of yours." She looked away. "When the time comes, you'll let me walk out of here."
"Why?"
"Because you relish in that darkness. You need it. Otherwise, you're not truly alive."
Buffy heard Lorne telling her that Angelus made her feel alive and that it was ok. That there was nothing wrong with her. But she couldn't help but believe that she was wrong. She couldn't let Angelus out. He would kill. "I won't." Was all she could say.
"You will. I know you will." He smiled cruelly at her. "All those times you had a chance to kill me…. You didn't. You let me wander the streets of Sunnydale, killing off the people from school that you knew, tormenting your friends, violating you in the most sensual way. You let me kill Jenny Calendar."
"I did not."
"You let me kill her because it was revenge for not telling you about the loophole in the curse."
"No."
"Yes. Ah, Buff, you're still so young. You have so much left to learn about yourself."
"I'm not a bad person."
"Not yet. But you will be in time. And you know that. That's why you've never let me out willingly until now. You know the longer I'm let out of my cage, the closer you come to that darkness brewing inside you." He laughed. "I thought I was the ultimate schizo!"
"And you had all those chances to kill me. All those chances to release that darkness…. Why didn't you?"
"Because it's so much more fun to work your way towards it. The day you embrace it is the day I'll turn you.
"You'll be waiting a long time."
"Hey, I'm not gettin' any younger." He laid down on the floor and stretched out. "Ah, I've got plans for you Buff. Other than the obvious, of course."
Buffy shook her head and was about to retort when Fred and Wesley came down the stairs. "Cordelia had a vision. She knows how to put his soul back." Fred said.
Angelus chuckled. "I guess the Powers saw how bad you guys suck."
"Doing better than you!"
"Fred…." Buffy started.
"Ooh, she really has put on spunk, hasn't she, Wes. Not the same, shy, bitchcow we pulled out of Pylea."
"There's only one bitch here, and I'm looking at him."
"Oh, come on, we all know it's for the best. Now you can go for the real prize. Mmm…. Man, I'm telling ya….if I swung that way. Look at him! All rugged and handsome and brains…. man, he's damn-near perfect."
"Thank you." Wesley said.
"Except the part about banging Lilah for the past six months." Fred turned to look at Angelus. "That kinda takes the shine off him." Fred laughed nervously, then looked at Wesley, whose face showed guilt.
"Fred…."
"No, it…. it's none of my business. I should…." Fred turned and ran upstairs.
"Nothing like the truth, I tell ya!" Angelus said. "It hits all the right buttons."
"Connor and Gunn have gone to retrieve a part of the spell. They should be back within an hour." Wesley walked back up the stairs and left Buffy to watch Angelus.
"They're either really stupid or really trusting…. Actually, that's about the same thing."
"Why do you say that?"
"They just leave you down here all alone with me."
"I can handle myself."
He smiled and licked his lips. "I know." After a minute, he sat up. "I'm still waiting for you to come through with your half of the bargain. They're all busy setting up that spell. No one's paying attention to us."
"Your offer is intriguing, but I'm going to decline."
"Didn't you know that it's much more thrilling if there's a chance you could get caught?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, thank you."
"Suit yourself. It'll just make it that much more fun for me once I do get out of here."
Buffy decided to go back upstairs and see what was happening with the spell. She had listened to Angelus ramble for the last hour and couldn't take anymore. Mainly because he was right about her every time he opened his mouth to talk about her. "What's the what?" She asked.
"Hey buttercup!" Lorne said. "Decided to join the soul party?"
"For now."
Cordelia and Fred walked into the lobby carrying magical items. "Seven talismans built to spec." Cordelia said.
"Sometimes I hate this life." Fred said.
"Dumpster diving for week-old buffalo wings, definitely not in the job description."
"Try declawing scavenged road kill for three sacred talons."
"Never do I have the happy, frolicking puppy visions. Always bones and death and…."
Connor and Gunn came through the front door. "We got the skull of the soul-eater." Connor said, setting it on the table in front of Cordelia.
"I'm just saying…."
"It looks rather fresh." Wesley said.
"Yeah, we moved up its expiration date." Gunn said, causing Connor and himself to laugh.
"Cordy?"
Cordelia closed her eyes for a moment. "I just see the skull. It doesn't have any…. you know…. parts."
"Right. Take it to the kitchen. Remove the flesh and the soft tissue."
Connor and Gunn took the head and left the room with Cordelia following.
Lilah walked into the lobby. "It's just like being at work, except suits by Liberace."
"Wesley, would you please warn this walking infection that I haven't forgotten how she poked my head open like a Capri-Sun." Lorne said. "And while my love for humanity allows me to tolerate her presence, if need be I will smack her down! Be a doll. Thanks."
"With all the excitement, I thought you would have escaped by now." Wesley said to Lilah.
"Well, I would have, but, um, it's Thursday, which means that everyone who should be in the weekly briefing is, um, dead." Lilah said.
"So you have nowhere else to go?"
"Just waiting to prove that your Powers That Be are all hat and no cattle. And if they do pull it through, well then braid my hair, and call me Pollyanna. The upside of being in it for yourself, Wes? You always end up on the winning team."
"Wesley…." Fred said. "Cordy had a question." Fred turned and left quickly.
