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Chapter 38- The Shroud of Rahmon
"I think it won't get that bad in this one", Buffy said hopefully. "Because they're joining us in the next one."
"Let's see", Tara shrugged as Buffy started the recording.
A white and black cop were talking about some creep in custody, and the white cop said she could die, to which the black cop told him if that happened, the guy was all his. They walked back into the interrogation room. There was a dark haired man, wearing a dark jacket sitting slumped over at the table, his face buried in one arm lying on the table. The black cop said if he told them what he knew, he'd be sent to holding, and if he didn't, his partner would dent his skull. The white cop banged his hands on the table, asking if he was listening. The black cop guessed that he'd been involved in something bigger than expected and got scared, so an officer ended up on the floor and a headless body. The guy finally straightened up and banged a fist on the table. It was Wesley.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
"How did he get there?" Dawn now wondered.
"Looks like a mission went terribly wrong", Giles commented.
Wesley said she wasn't supposed to be there, and he had gone to warn them all, before asking the black cop if he'd brought it here, to which he exchanged a look with his partner. Wesley looked to the side and gave a relieved smile, realizing it'd be too late for them all if they had, and then said he'd grabbed her very hard, while adding he himself was good with the ladies.
"Yeah, I know, don't remind me and make me feel inferior", Xander joked, mostly to lighten the mood, though it didn't work.
The black cop asked to explain what had happened as Wesley said it had all gone terribly wrong, and it blended to a blonde body dropping on the floor, released by a Vamp-faced Angel with blood on his lips, blinking his eyes rapidly.
Now this horrified everyone.
"What the hell?" Willow went.
"Did he just…." Buffy trailed off.
"We aren't seeing the full thing", Tara reminded. "Maybe it's not what we think it is."
But it didn't alleviate anyone's fears.
Wesley was staring ahead and said none of them would have known the affect until too late, and he'd tried to stop him but was hit and fell down, and when he looked up, he was holding her, then she was on the floor. If they'd found out sooner, he'd have stopped him, the black cop asking who, and Wesley said he should never have been there, calling him the boss, and then said he helped people when he wasn't in trouble himself. He and Cordelia had tried to get him out of there, then remembered she'd been with him, and wondered what had happened to her.
"What happened to her?" Xander now wondered, afraid.
"He said about something having an effect", Willow pointed out as all turned to her. "Maybe whatever bad thing Angel did, he was being controlled by something."
"Well, that makes it a little better, but if he killed that woman….." Buffy trailed off.
"The guilt is going to add to what he's already carrying", Tara said sadly.
At the Hyperion lobby, hours ago, Wesley asked Cordelia what had happened to her hair, as Cordelia touched her new, shoulder length black hair.
"Wow!" Buffy commented. "I like her hair."
"Remember the time you got hair like those?" Dawn reminded.
"Yeah, but no one could see me, so no one saw the haircut for a good long while", Buffy said with a smile.
"They look good on her", Xander agreed.
"I think she looks good in any hairstyle", Tara shrugged before turning to Buffy. "Like you."
"Aww, thanks Tara", Buffy said with a smile, wrapping an arm around her to give her a one-armed hug, squeezing Dawn in the middle.
"Oxygen!" Dawn snapped and Buffy moved back.
"Sorry", she said lamely.
"You better be", Dawn said to her with a mock glare.
"Let's just focus on what's going on", Giles told the rest, amused by their antics.
Wesley told Cordelia her new hair was great, asking when that had happened, and she said 10 day ago, shocking him, with her smile gone. Wesley now stuttered, saying he didn't want to embarrass her, Cordelia asking by noticing, and then complimented his suit, knowing Wesley was going with Virginia to another celebrity-filled gala, pretending to yawn. Wesley asked if she'd seen Angel, as he didn't do much with his time lately, to which she said he spent his day brooding about Darla, with lunch in the middle.
"Still thinking about her", Dawn sighed. "Now I'm really hoping he finds her before she does something stupid."
Wesley said enough was enough and marched up to the stairs to tell him, before stopping at the stairs as Cordelia complimented his posturing and he thanked her, Cordelia saying Angel wasn't here, because Gunn's cousin got involved in something big and illegal, so Angel and Gunn went to help out, Wesley saying it was good as he'd gotten out, and now he'd too. Cordelia reminded it was a Hollywood party, and Wesley said it was Premier, and he had an extra ticket, so Cordelia smiled, saying no one did shallow better than her, and put her hand on his arm as they left together.
"So Angel and Gunn are involved in something illegal", Tara said. "Maybe that's the thing that led to Wesley's arrest."
"He's at a Hollywood party though", Xander pointed out.
"Doesn't mean he can't get involved", Willow told him.
Angel and Gunn stood leaned against the hood of Angel's convertible, looking at another dark-skinned kid nearby called Lester, and Gunn assured him Angel was cool, though Lester said he hated Vampires while not being prejudiced, Angel dryly saying Lester was enlightened, and then Gunn asked Lester to spill his Vamp problem, to which he said he was supposed to take a driving job for some crew he'd never met, but EJ had vouched for him, though he wanted to stay out of prison. Lester also said there was some psycho Vampire being brought from Vegas, and the job involved stealing something supernatural from a museum later in the week, but he had to meet the head tonight, and if he didn't show, he'd be hunted and killed.
"Sounds like a tough spot", Tara said. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't."
"Well, Angel and Gunn are here to save the day", Dawn quipped.
Gunn asked where the meet was and Lester pulled out a paper which he took, and Angel asked the Vamp's name, and it turned out to be Jay-don, and he was coming by a downtown bus on midnight. Gunn told Lester to take the meeting, and he'd get him out before the crime happened, Lester hugging and thanking him as well as telling Angel it was nice to meet him before he left. Gunn asked if Angel knew Jay-don, and he did know of him, so he was taking it from here, taking the paper from Gunn, and told him he'd either shut it down or protect Lester. Gunn asked if he was just supposed to sit and knit a sweater, to which Angel said he could use a dark sweater, and drove off as Gunn shook his head.
"I think he's now distracting himself from Darla with this little assignment", Buffy noted.
"And we all know it is about to go wrong as well", Giles said with a sigh.
Angel returned to the Hyperion, walking through the dimly lit suite to see a blonde and asked if it was Darla, but it was Kate, who was here about the murder Darla was involved in from a few weeks ago, saying she was sure Angel would tell her Darla was innocent, but he just walked past her so she asked if he'd testify in a blindingly sunny court of law. Angel pointed out she didn't have a search warrant, and so she took out a cross, the end of its long beam sharpened into a stake, as Angel told her he had no idea where Darla was. Kate said she'd find her and she'd be toast, but Angel reminded she was human, so Kate said it'd be toast with life in prison.
"She's really desperate to punish Angel for her vendetta, isn't she?" Xander asked.
"Now she's popping in by herself, unannounced, with no warrant, and a cross/stake to threaten", Willow summed it up. "How the mighty have fallen."
"At this point, I don't think she'll see any sense at all", Buffy sighed.
"I kind of want to see her get punched", Dawn said, and for some reason, no one was disagreeing. Kate was pretty obnoxious now and needed a reality check, physical or verbal or both.
Angel reminded Kate that a storm was gathering, and he didn't want her caught up in it. Kate asked if he was afraid she'd get hurt, to which he said he was afraid she'd get killed, and he was telling her so she won't be. Kate said she'd be like him then, saying she wouldn't stand by while he and his playmate finished the game. Angel decided to try one more time, and sent her cross flying as it stuck to the wall, and grabbing her, told her if she got stuck between him and Darla, it'd be the last thing she ever did. Kate freed herself and they looked at each other for a moment before she walked out.
"No sympathy, you brought this on yourself", Tara said to Kate, and if Tara wasn't feeling sympathy for someone, that someone had screwed up real bad.
"Honestly, with how she went in there with her threats, she was asking to have her neck snapped", Giles agreed with Tara. "Angel may not be a bad person, but I do not think he's one you want to be on the bad side of."
"I think Wolfram and Hart need to learn that too", Buffy muttered.
Later, Cordelia with a big red stain on her white blouse walked into the lobby, Wesley following as he said it was hardly noticeable, and Angel asked what had happened. Cordelia said it was just cocktail sauce due to Wesley, but Angel was talking about her hair, and then found it great, asking when that had happened. Wesley said it had happened 10 days ago and told him to pay attention.
"Both of you pay attention!" Willow said.
Cordelia gave a short laugh, then stepped around the reception counter as Angel wondered why no one told him this stuff, and Wesley said they'd a little mishap. He had accidentally spelled sauce on her dress in front of Chow-Yun Fat, and Angel was excited they'd met him.
"And you embarrassed her in front of him. Bad Wesley!" Dawn said as all chuckled.
"I'm jealous", Xander muttered.
"Perhaps you also want sauce on you", Tara said and he shut up while she smirked.
Angel then informed them about the incident with Gunn's cousin, and now they needed to find out the right museum. Wesley found it wonderful that Angel was back on a case. Angel blinked his eyes as Cordelia popped back from under the counter, now in a black top, saying it'll be like old times, kicking evil's booty, and then asked what Angel would do. He said a Vampire from Vegas called Jay-Don was coming, and Wesley knew him, calling him a loud and flashy character, and Angel knew he'd met the Rat Pack and ran with them, especially Sinatra, and never gotten over it. Cordelia realized the plan was to take his place, before asking Wesley how loud and flashy, to which he said he was an extrovert, and so the two turned to Angel, Wesley assuring he could pull it off due to being colorful.
"I think you're talking about Spike there", Buffy commented.
"Can he pull it off?" Dawn wondered.
"Well, he is a great actor", Willow reminded, and all had to concede.
A bus pulled into a downtown station, and a guy wearing dark pants and red jacket walked out, wearing sunglasses. Angel came up behind him, laughing, bouncing up and down and saying it was an honor, then Angel reached for him but was warded off, and then bouncing hit his forehead with his hand before pulling his hand down, then looked around and licked his lips, scrunching his face, asking for the password, but there was none, so Angel stretched his right hand down, triggering the stake in his sleeve as he staked Jay-don and took his glasses, saying he was just checking.
"So far, he's pulling it off", Tara said.
"But now the harder part is coming", Xander told them.
A bus driver checked to make sure the bus was secured. After he left a demon with long black hair and an ugly white face with red lesions stepped up and crouched down to check the door to the bus's cargo compartment. Angel, wearing a puke-green shirt, blue jacket and Jay-don's sunglasses came up behind him and greeted with a fake New York accent, and the Demon pointed him to the car's direction as Angel said the trip was fabulous, then noticed an old, beat-up station wagon, calling it a piece of junk, and acted like he didn't want to get in as this wouldn't get him chicks, but the Demon told him to do so and he hoped he didn't meet anyone he knew.
"We hope you don't meet anyone Jay-Don knows", Dawn nodded.
The station wagon pulled up in front of a garage. A spiny demon looked out of the little window at Angel and Menlo getting out of the car. Vyasa motioned to a human wearing a security guard uniform, asking if he felt like a meal, then Ugly slid open the door as Angel arrived, taking off the sunglasses, and then noticed the human must be Bob the security guard, while calling Vyasa a great big Demon, and Ugly said he talked too much, as Angel complimented Vyasa's shirt, but Vyasa threatened to crush his head, till Menlo told them to shut up.
"I think he's playing it right", Buffy said. "Loud and flashy."
"And very obnoxious", Giles added from his end.
"It's kind of funny", Willow said with a chuckle.
Menlo then asked about Lester, and then eyed Bob, asking if they'd anybody to eat, to which he backed off when a car slammed outside, and Menlo slid the door open as Gunn walked in, saying he was late to make sure there were no cops around, while Angel eyed him.
"So he came too, guess he doesn't know how to knit a sweater", Xander quipped.
"Jay-Don and Lester are both part of the mission then", Tara said with a nod.
Later, the other 3 sat around a table as Angel reminded he'd handle this, while Gunn reminded he doesn't take orders, and then Menlo said they were looking for the Shroud of Rahmon, which was worth 2 million in the black market. Menlo then pointed at the map, telling the plan- Bob would turn off the alarm at 2:40, they will take a hall to the elevator and meet Bob at 2:45, then go down together, and the vault had a lock code known by the curator, so they'll blow it, and door had no alarm, but vault had a thermal system, so a Vamp with no body temperature was needed, and he'd disarm the control box so they could go in. Menlo said this was big due to being made of consecrated wood and edges sealed with gold, lined inside with lead, weighing about a ton, so all would have to lift it together.
"The Shroud of Rahmon", Giles remembered, taking off his glasses.
"So you know it", Buffy realized.
"It was created to bind the Demon Rahmon", Giles explained. "It was dyed with the blood of seven virgin women sacrificed on the first full moon. It was then laid upon Rahmon's body which was sealed in a case made of concecrated wood, trimmed with gold and lined with lead, in order to prevent his resurrection. The shroud absorbed Rahmon's power and if removed from the case, would infect those in close vicinity with his power. This is known to have occurred once in history, in 1803 in the Mexican city of El Encanto, causing it's entire population to go insane."
Everyone's eyes widened in horror.
"Angel and Gunn are going to be in its vicinity", Willow pointed out.
"Maybe that's why Angel did whatever he did", Tara realized as all paled.
"I really don't like this", Dawn muttered.
"None of us do, Dawnster", Xander told her.
Gunn antagonized Bob who rushed him but Angel pushed him back, calling Gunn a troublemaker and saying he could get a different driver, but then Angel hit Gunn and grabbed him, saying he'd take it outside, but Menlo aimed his guns at the two, so Angel let go, and was told this was going to happen at the night, Menlo saying no one would leave his sight till this was done or they'd get a bullet from him or a stake from Vyasa.
"I'm not even Angel or Gunn, and I'm feeling like I am in a mess", Xander said, shaking his head.
"And we all know it's going to get worse", Tara said with a sigh.
Cordelia surfed the net, looking for museums, and then clicked on recent acquisitions for one on Wesley's instruction, and then Wesley noticed that the museum research department had received the Shroud of Rahmon from a tomb recently unearthed by the University of New Mexico archaeologists. They realized this was it as Wesley decided to hit the books while she could get everything from the museum database.
"You can get all the info, but Angel isn't coming back", Buffy muttered. "Because timetable got moved up."
"So they need to work faster", Willow said.
A truck docked at the back of the museum as Gunn and Menlo came out of the front while Angel and Vyasa came out of the back. Angel said driver should stay with the vehicle, but Menlo pulled a door open, revealing the latch had been taped over with masking tape to keep it from locking, because Gunn was needed inside, and then Gunn tapped Angel's arm, telling him not to hit him again, but Angel said he was trying to protect him. Gunn appreciated it, before giving Angel a hard right, telling him not to do it again.
"Cordy wasn't wrong about him", Tara said, remembering. "He does like danger."
"Guess coming here was a mix of that and wanting to protect Lester", Buffy said.
Gunn walked in as Angel followed, putting his glasses back on, then they met Bob, riding the elevator down, with Bob saying they had a minute before Earl made his rounds, telling Vyasa he didn't have to hit him hard, to which he smiled as Angel looked at Gunn who met his eyes for a moment then looked ahead. They walked down the hallway. Vyasa darted ahead into an alcove. Bob swiped his card through a security scanner. Earl came up around a corner of the hallway, whistling, and Menlo pulled his gun and grabbed Bob from behind, who called for help as Vyasa threw him into a wall, but Angel stopped him from killing him, saying the cops would be over them, so Menlo gave Bob some duct tape to restrain Earl.
Everyone sighed in relief.
"The cops still did show", Dawn reminded as the mood plummeted.
They arrived at the vault as Menlo put his hand on it, Vyasa urging him to blow it, and later Menlo drilled a hole while Angel sprayed water to cool it, and Gunn assembled the trigger, he and Angel staring at each other. A police cruiser pulled up in front of a police station. The white cop from the start pointed at a picture lying in front of him on the desk, it was Bob the guard, and he had a record, while they also had a picture of Menlo, and there was one more of Menlo picking Angel at the bus station as the cop said he'd heard she knew this guy, and Kate was revealed, saying she was interested.
Now everyone's mood plummeted even more.
"Of course she had to show", Xander said with gritted teeth.
"The woman who fell down was blonde", Willow remembered, and now all were even more terrified. Was Angel going to kill Kate under the Shroud's influence?
Menlo was taking a small glass bottle filled with yellow liquid out of a padded box, his hand shaking a little, and moved to insert it into the hole drilled into the door, while Vyasa cheered him on, making all jump, and Gunn asked him to chill, with Menlo telling Vyasa to shut up as the bottle slipped from his hands but Angel stretched out and caught it on his foot, asking to allow him.
All sighed in relief once more.
Balancing on one foot he slowly reached down, took the bottle and inserted it into the door. With all of them standing around the corner of the corridor, Menlo blew the lock out of the door.
"So it begins", Giles muttered.
Wesley walked into the lobby, reading about the Shroud from a book, Cordelia wondering why only virgin women had to be sacrificed. Wesley said it could be for purity but Cordelia said it was about dominance, saying if a male body part was needed, the world would turn atheist, snapping her fingers.
"Yeah, the virgin woman thing does seem to go on a lot, doesn't it?" Willow asked.
"Yeah", Buffy said with a nod as she winced in remembrance. "Happened to me and Cordy too once. It's horrible."
Wesley said the Shroud absorbed Rahmon's power, so Cordelia realized it will drive one mad, and Wesley mentioned the El Encanto incident, Cordelia realizing to get Angel's mind off of Darla they had sent him after a box that made people crazy, so Wesley said they could warn him off of it, Cordelia saying they might be stealing it now, so they looked at each other and ran for the door.
"So this is how they get roped in", Tara realized.
"And it's really not gonna end well", Buffy muttered.
Angel entered the vault with Menlo behind, closing the door, as the big box was in the middle of the vault. Angel passed it as whispering was heard, something coming over Angel who took a deep breath eyes wide open, and they turned yellow as if he was about to change, but he shook it off with some effort as his eyes turned brown again.
"Uh-oh, looks like it's affecting him", Willow said.
"It's like the One Ring", Xander told the rest. "Sort of."
"So you've read the books? I can't believe it", Giles said to Xander.
"No, I saw the movies", Xander said, exchanging looks with the rest. "We all did."
"There were movies?" Giles said as all chuckled at him.
"Yeah, one of the rare cases where a movie adaptation is almost as good as the book", Tara told him.
"Might have to check them out sometime", Giles nodded.
Vyasa paced outside the vault as Bob ranted the Shroud would make them rich. Angel looked past the coffin towards the control box, then down at the coffin. He stepped closer to look down into it through a square glass window over the place where the demon's face had imprinted itself onto the Shroud. He morphed into his vamp face as Gunn called out while he turned back human, and walking to the control box yanked out some wires. A light outside the vault went off as Menlo came in, smiling the others following as Gunn said he felt something weird, Vyasa scoffing humans always did, and Angel said he liked it when they were scared as it made them salty, then he and Vyasa got into an argument till Menlo stopped them.
"I don't think they need the Shroud to make them fight", Xander commented.
"That makes it even worse", Tara said.
There was indistinct whispering in the background as Gunn looked at the image of the Demon through the glass square, wondering when they'd get pretty Demons, and then on the count of three, all took a hold of the box, Angel's eyes going yellow again, and then when it was done to three, all strained and lifted the box together. Wesley opened the taped backdoor as he and Cordelia entered, a wave rolling over them, and they felt weird, chalking it up to the altitude, and eventually decided to stick together before going their separate ways.
"Now Angel is being affected, and them too", Buffy said with a sigh. "Why did these Demons have to steal this Shroud of all things?"
"Universe hates us good guys, you know?" Willow said and no one could disagree.
A slick silver car pulled up behind the museum as Kate requested for backup, then got out, pulling her gun and walked inside. The group was carrying the coffin through the corridor, Angel and Gunn arguing, Gunn bringing up his sister, and Vyasa wanted him to shut up as Gunn let go of his corner of the coffin, asking Angel to take him, with the rest trying to hold it when Gunn tackled Angel, the box dropping as the glass cracked and a purple mist seeped out.
"Oh dear Lord", Giles said in horror, summing up everyone's reactions.
"His sister", Buffy remembered. "He blames Angel to some extent."
"And now the repressed anger has been let out", Tara noted grimly.
Angel had Gunn against the wall by the throat, telling him he was tired of this entitled behavior, and the two argued as there was more indistinct whispering, but then the two agreed to play nice so Angel let him go. Then Gunn pulled out a stake and attacked Angel from behind, but Angel batted it aside and kicked him into a wall while getting a punch. Vyasa wanted Gunn dead and they were about to fight again when Menlo pulled out his gun, stopping them, telling them to focus on the case, while Bob pulled a rope out of Menlo's bag, telling them to tie him up as a hostage.
"This is already out of hand", Willow said. "And we know it's gonna get even worse."
"Let's just hope Angel and Gunn don't kill each other", Xander said.
Menlo tied the rope at Bob's hands before trying to pick the coffin, but Bob asked someone to hit him and make it look real, to which Vyasa twisted his head off, making Gunn flinch, with Vyasa telling the head it looked real to him, and dropping it moved to his head of the coffin.
Everyone flinched a little too.
"I do not think he needed to be in Shroud's vicinity to twist off his head", Giles told the rest, and no one could disagree. Vyasa seemed pretty violent on his own.
Kate came down some steps in the museum, gun in hand. A shadow flew across and she aimed her gun at it while continuing down the steps. The shadow flew across above her, she spun around, firing in the air and knocking Wesley to the ground in the process. He got back up, telling her he was here to warn Angel of something important, then noted her hair as Kate asked if he was going to warn Angel about her hair, to which he said they were blonde, and then there was a whoosh as he reached to his head in pain, saying the Shroud made all act differently.
"Here's hoping it makes her act nicer", Xander muttered sarcastically.
"Or even more obnoxious and stupid", Tara piped up.
Cordelia admired herself in a mirror, noting her big teeth and calling herself pleasant while Wesley needed to hurry, then there was a whoosh again as Kate spun around, then grabbed the bridge of her nose as Wesley said he'd noticed her hair right away. Kate dropped her hand and turned to him but he was gone while Cordelia saw a gray puppet wearing a Native American costume, greeting him as plastic person, and then took off its necklace, putting it around her neck. Angel, Gunn, Menlo and Vyasa continued carrying the box as Menlo remembered they'd left fingerprints, and letting go of his corner snatched a rag from his bag and started rubbing frantically to wipe at the walls of the elevator. The other three continued before Gunn wanted to put it down because his head was full of flies, and set his corner down before grabbing his head and backing against the wall, telling the rest to get away from it.
"I think he's figuring it out", Willow realized. "Hopefully this leads to something good."
Vyasa decided he didn't need the rest as Angel taunted Gunn, the whispering getting louder as his eyes turned yellow again while he lifted a hand to his head, and then Wesley stumbled there, trying to tell him of the Shroud while also adding he felt good, but then Angel grabbed him by the front of the shirt and pushed him down the corridor to get out, while Wesley noticed Gunn. Kate then whipped around, aiming her gun at them while Angel squinted at her with yellow eyes, and called her the best cop ever while Vyasa groaned about humans, but Angel called her his girl while she told him to stay back.
"You have no idea what you're getting into, Kate", Buffy told her. "This is what happens when you can't let go of a vendetta."
Angel ranted how his life of crime was over before mocking Kate's vendetta over her father's death, and spinning around, knocked Wesley into the wall before turning back to Kate and morphed into Vamp form, taunting her. Kate shot at him, but he rushed her, grabbed her, pointing her gun up at the ceiling and sank his fangs into the side of her neck. The SWAT team Kate called in for back up entered the museum through the taped backdoor, guns at the ready, and spread out to search the museum. Two of them found Wesley crouched over a motionless Kate.
"Is she dead?" Dawn asked, scared. "Is she?"
"We don't know….yet", Tara said.
"Didn't they say at the start that she could die?" Willow suddenly remembered the detail. "She's alive."
All sighed in relief before Xander added. "But she still could die."
The mood plummeted again.
The SWAT guy leaned in closer and saw the bite mark on Kate's neck, telling it to the other officers as Wesley was pulled off of Kate roughly. The moving van crashed into one of the cars parked in the lot in front of the garage. Angel, Gunn, Menlo and Vyasa carried in the coffin with Angel chuckling maniacally. They set it down, Gunn saying how Angel had drank the cop, and then Menlo ran his hands along the coffin's lid, but Vyasa just punched his fist through the glass window, ripped the lid right off and threw it aside.
"And now they are going to be fully under its control", Giles said, terrifying the others even more.
The whispering got louder and was now joined by some laughter and a soft whooshing sound as the four of them stepped closer to the coffin and looked at the shroud wrapped body inside. Angel looked slightly wigged, Gunn was smiling. Menlo was shaking and reached for the shroud, but Vyasa screamed it belonged to his people. They argued and each of them grabbed a hold of one corner of the shroud and tried to pull it away from the others. Eventually, Menlo pulled out his gun and shot Angel. Vyasa hit Menlo with a hard right, sending him to the floor. His gun went off again and Gunn ducked down beside the coffin. Vyasa grabbed the shroud pulls it away from Angel, almost pulling him into the coffin. Angel caught himself with his face only inches away from the skull of the demon. Vyasa ran towards the door. Angel tackle him in one incredible leap before he reached it and got the shroud away from him. Gunn snagged the other end of the shroud and tried to pull it out of Angel's hands. They stared at each other as they worked their way hand over hand towards the middle. Vyasa jumped back up.
"Now the hope is it gets ripped", Xander shrugged. "Problem solved."
Vyasa ran towards them, but Menlo got off one last shot in their direction, hitting Vyasa in the forehead. Vyasa's body dropped onto the shroud held between Gunn and Angel, and all three of them topple to the ground with Gunn at the bottom and Angel on top. Angel then regained some sense and told Gunn to have faith, so he let go. Angel stumbled out of the door of the garage carrying the shroud and Bob's bottle of Whiskey. He dropped the shroud and poured the whiskey over it. The whispering and laughter was heard again as Angel stared down on the image of the demon's face on the shroud. He pulled out a lighter, and flicked it. He stared at the flame, looking down at the shroud. The lighter tumbled from his hand in slow motion. Angel watched the flames, breathing hard. The whispering was still heard. Angel slowly took a step back. Suddenly there was a soundless explosion, the flames shooting straight up, Angel flew through the air and against a stack of cement bags behind him, then landed in a heap. The whispering had stopped. The flames died back down and Angel lay there, barely lifting his head off the ground, watching the shroud burn.
"It's gone", Dawn said, everyone feeling breath in their lungs again.
"Angel and Gunn regained their senses for long enough", Buffy sighed in relief. "Good, that's good."
"I guess we shouldn't underestimate people's willpower", Willow said with a smile.
"With that done, the matter of Wesley still remains", Tara reminded.
"Yeah, let's hope it turns out well", Xander muttered.
"We can always hope", Giles said.
The cops were not believing Wesley's shroud story so they started arresting him, only for Kate to walk in, locking eyes with Wesley. "Let him go."
"So she's alive", Xander said and they were relieved even more.
"That definitely saves Wesley", Dawn said with a smile. "Guess this ended well, mostly."
"But it will get worse", Buffy muttered.
Kate's desk and a picture of her father sitting there were shown, then Kate was seen standing in front of the window beside her desk looking out at the night through the open blinds. Angel's bite mark was clearly visible on the right side of her neck. She covered it with one hand and there was a flash back to Angel grabbing her, diverting her shots towards the ceiling and sinking his teeth into her neck. He drank, then he turned her so she could see over his shoulder that Menlo had his gun trained on her. Angel whispered in her ear to stay down or be killed. Angel let go of her and she dropped to the floor. She looked up at his bloody vamp-face for a moment then her eyes slid shut as Angel turned to look around and chuckled as Menlo lowered his gun. Kate's head rolled to the side and the picture faded into a negative image then back to Kate slowly taking her hand away from her neck and turning around.
"So he bit her to save her", Willow noted. "It's a good thing he snapped out of it temporarily."
"Kind of convenient though", Tara told her. "I mean, he was out of it before and after biting her. I'm glad he didn't kill Kate, but it's still kind of convenient."
"Maybe drinking human blood gave him some clarity", Giles pointed out. [1]
No one could disagree on either of the points.
Wesley paced in front of the stairs in the Hyperion's lobby with his hands buried in the pockets of his gray sweat pants. He went to sit down on the sofa beside Cordelia, who had changed her clothes as well, but was still wearing the Native American necklace she put around her neck at the museum. Wesley said the recent events hadn't done Angel any good, because he had drank human blood, not having done that in a long time, Cordelia realizing his bloodlust may have been awakened. They both got up at the same time and left, turning off the lights. Angel sat in a chair in his dimly lit suite - leaning back his head with a sigh. He closed his eyes and there was a blend into a shot of him sinking his teeth into Kate's neck. Kate panted as he drank, and his pale hand flexed as he held onto her shoulder. The screen went black.
"That has to suck", Buffy muttered, remembering when she'd let Angel drink her.
"So in trying distract himself from Darla, he ended up reawakening his bloodlust, this just had to go south", Willow sighed.
"And next one is gonna go even worse", Xander reminded.
"We know, no need to remind us again", Dawn said.
"Let's wait for our future selves then", Tara suggested.
"Sounds like a wise course of action to me", Giles agreed with a nod, as they decided to wait for their future selves.
Now it's the Angel/Darla Trilogy, which I am so excited to do, I can't wait to write the next 3 episodes at all.
[1] Got this from the Buffy wiki, and it makes sense IMO- "Angel's moment of clarity when saving Kate by feeding from her is awfully convenient considering how out of it he was before and after. However, it is possible that the consumption of new blood grants vampires a few seconds of clarity during which the Shroud's effects are weakened." Could be true.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!