&&&&&&&
Giles' apartment
Saturday morning
10 am
"What?" Willow said. "Angel's back? I must have hearing problems
because I almost thought you said--"
"Angelus," Giles said, entering the room. "Hello, Oz. I hope you're
feeling okay?"
"Yeah, besides being a little sore, I'll survive," Oz replied. "Thanks
for letting me stay here, Giles."
"That's quite all right," Giles said. "Now, as I was saying... Yes, it
does appear that Angelus is back. Buffy tells me he visited her this
morning."
"But how? I don't understand," Willow said, still in disbelief.
"I don't know. It doesn't really matter, does it? All that does matter
is he's pretty ticked about the Acathla thing, and he came back for
revenge," Buffy said. "I can handle him, but he's made it clear I'm
one of the last on his list of torture victims. So I'd feel better if
you guys stayed inside after dark, until we can take care of this.
And also, Wills, you still have access to the spell, right?"
"The gypsy curse? I suppose I do, but I don't know if we should do
that--"
"What do you mean, 'you don't know!" Buffy yelled back. "Of couse this
is what we should do, how could you even question that!"
"Buffy, I think Willow is trying to say that if we don't know how
Angel lost his soul, we can't be sure that the curse will be
effective," Giles tried to reason with his slayer.
"Oh, come on, you two, we all know how he lost his soul. Moment of
true happiness remember?" Buffy said bitterly, " -- And _DONT_ look
at me like that, I wasn't saying it was _my_ fault. I haven't seen
Angel since Thanksgiving!"
"Buffy, you don't know that's how it happened," Willow replied. "I
mean, I guess it's a possibility, but we don't know how many other
ways that this might have happened. So all I was saying is, let's
hold off on the Gypsy curse until me and Giles, if he has time, can
do some research. Okay?"
"Fine, whatever," Buffy muttered. "I gotta go warn Riley about this."
"And Xander!" Willow reminded her. At Buffy's blank look, she added,
"You remember Xander don't you? Tall, goofy guy? You know, he used to
hang out with us? When there was an us?"
As Buffy just continued to give her a puzzled look, Willow sighed
with exasperation and continued, "Buffy, chances are that Angelus
remembers Xander, therefore he's in more danger than Riley, who
Angelus may not even know about."
"Fine," Buffy shrugged. "I'll drop by Xander's after I see Riley." and
walked out the door.
"AAAARGH!" Willow yelled when Buffy had left the apartment. "Do you
_see_ what I mean???? She's so not-Buffy lately!"
"She did seem a little less interested in, well, anything other than
you doing the curse, and her seeing Riley," Oz agreed.
"G-" Willow looked over to where Giles had been standing, but he had
escaped back to the living room. "Giles?" Willow and Oz walked to
where Giles was sitting at a nearby desk, searching through
books. "Do you think there might be another reason that Angel went
soulless again?"
"If there's one thing I've learned from my years on the Hellmouth,
Willow, it's that usually the simplest answer isn't usually the right
one."
"I think that's Giles-speak for yes," Oz said with a grin.
"Okay, so vampire research here we come," Willow said, as she grabbed
a book and started going through it.
&&&&&&&
Riley's frat house
11 am
Buffy went to Riley's room, but he wasn't there. "That's weird," she
said, checking her watch. "He doesn't have any classes until this
afternoon. Maybe he's got Initiative stuff to take care of."
She checked his door, and it was unlocked, so she went in to leave
him a note to call her the minute he got in. On her way out the door
of the fraternity, she ran into Tara. "Oh, hey, Tara."
"Hey, Buffy have you seen--"
"Willow?" Buffy finished with a smile. "Yeah she's at Giles' place.
She'll probably be there for a while. But I'm sure she wouldn't mind
if you dropped by."
"Okay, maybe I will later, thanks."
As Tara walked away, Buffy thought, *Now what else was it that I was
supposed to do? Oh, well. It must not have been that important, or I'd
remember it.*
&&&&&&
Spike's mansion
3 pm
Angelus walked into the room where Cordelia and Wesley were tied
up. "So how are our guests doing?" he asked with a grin.
"MGPHGH!" Cordelia said behind her gag, making Angelus laugh.
"Okay, I suppose I could ungag you. I _am_ bored." He reached down
and pulled the gag form her mouth.
"You are _so_ going to be dustboy, as soon as Buffy finds out!"
Cordelia spat at him.
"Oh, she knows, and I'm not dust, am I?" Angelus taunted her. "What's
wrong, Cordy? Cat got your tongue? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I
don't think Buffy is going to be that much of a problem."
"She was just in shock, but when she comes back to her senses, she'll
deal with you," Cordelia insisted.
"Sure she will. You just keep telling yourself that. In the meantime,
I have some fun planned for tonight. I was thinking of who I should go
after first, and I just couldn't decide. The witch or the... well,
that's one thing I never could figure out. What _is_ Xander's use in
that pathetic Scooby Gang? I suppose it doesn't matter anyway. He'll
be dead, like all the rest of you, very soon."
"Oh, is this where I'm supposed to say, 'Oh, no, evil vampire guy.
Please don't hurt me!'?" Cordelia said sarcastically.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to be a vampire?" Angelus asked,
stroking her face. "You'd stay young and beautiful forever."
"Eeww! I think no would be an understatement," Cordelia said, trying
to scoot away from his touch.
"Don't you have anything better to do than torment them?" Spike asked
as he walked in. "I thought that you preferred a good hunt, Angelus.
And there's no hunt if they're already bound and gagged. So where's
the fun?"
"Well, hello, Spike! Glad you decided to come back. I was just telling
Cordelia here that I couldn't decide which member of the Scoobies to
go after first. Xander or Willow. Personally, I think the witch would
be a fun one to go after."
"You can't do that," Spike said quickly.
"Oh, I can't?" Angelus replied. "And why is that?" he asked, standing
up and facing Spike.
"I just meant that I thought your plan was a slow, steadily worsening,
torture of the Slayer. Go after Red, and Buffy will come at you so
fast you won't know what hit you.
"If you want to just moderately irritate, go after Xander first. Make
Buffy watch Red's pain at losing her best-friend-slash-whatever-the
hell-else-he-is-to-her. Buffy will be upset, but not enough to go
after her precious Angel.
"Then you can go after Red, but by then, be ready for the wrath of
Buffy. Just my suggestion, though. Take it or leave it," Spike said
with a shrug, and walked back into the living room.
"See? That's why I chose you, Spike," Angelus said, following
him. "You think things through, all different possibilities. Whereas
I was just thinking, 'torture the Slayer', and didn't really care how
it got done, you were thinking, 'how can we torture the Slayer and
get the most enjoyment out of it.' That's where we make a good team,"
he said with a grin.
Riley saved Spike from having to come up with a witty response by
walking in at that moment.
"Oh, bloody hell," Spike muttered with a roll of the eyes. "You were
supposed to stay away, you idiot. If Buffy finds you here, it kind of
negates the surprise, remember?" he yelled at his childe.
"She didn't follow me," Riley replied sullenly. "I called Giles', and
she was there. She warned me about Angelus, she thinks I'm in danger
from him," he added with a smile.
"You," Angelus said with a chuckle, "must be Spike's childe." He
looked the blond vampire up and down quickly. He turned to Spike,
asking, "What, exactly was your big, important reason for turning him
again, Spike?"
"Oh, shove it where the sun don't shine," Spike muttered and walked
back into his bedroom. He found he far preferred the company of the
bound and gagged Cordelia and Wesley to that of the two vampires in
the other room.
&&&&&&&&&
Giles' house
8 pm
Giles, Buffy, Willow and Oz were poring through all of Giles' books,
looking for any reason that Angel would have lost his soul other than
the already-known one. Buffy threw a book across the room, and said,
"This is pointless, guys. Who cares how Angel lost his soul, we just
return it to him, and that's that."
"Buffy, something tells me that Angel going soulless isn't going to be
fixed by the gypsy curse," Willow replied.
"What makes you say that?" Giles asked curiously.
"Well, we know who ultimately was behind it, right?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, Spike. First on my top-ten-most-wanted-dust list," Buffy said.
"Okay, but _he_didn't personally do it right? And I've been thinking,
you remember when he kidnapped me and Xander, he wanted me to do the
love spell on Dru. He's always been fascinated by magic and spells,
so what if that's how he did it."
"If that's the case," Giles said, "it might also be the case that
whoever performed the spell also is powerful enough to block any
attempts to reverse it."
"Which means we have to find out for sure," Buffy sighed. "Willow,
you have some more magic books at the dorm, right?"
"Yeah, I can call Xander and have him drop by and get them on his way
over. He is coming over, right?" At Buffy's confused look, Willow
continued, "Buffy you told Xander, right?"
When Buffy didn't answer, Willow jumped up and grabbed the Slayer by
the shoulders, "Buffy! Tell me you warned Xander!"
The light finally dawned in the slayer's brain, and she looked at
Willow apologetically.
Willow slapped her in the face, screaming, "What is WRONG WITH
YOU?!!! HOW could you forget to warn Xander! I shouldn't have HAD to
remind you, anyway! The self-obsession is OLD already, BUFFY! There
are other people in this world, and we are JUST AS IMPORTANT AS YOU
AND YOUR PRECIOUS RILEY!"
Willow jumped ran to the phone then. "Oh, please. Let him be there,
let him be there," she said, dialing the phone.
"Willow, I'm--" Buffy started to apologize.
"SHUT UP!!!!" Willow screamed. "If your carelessness caused--"
"Hey, it's okay," Oz said reassuringly, walking over to the panicked
red-head. "Xander's probably fine. He and Anya are--"
"NOT ANSWERING!!" Willow yelled.
End of 7
Giles' apartment
Saturday morning
10 am
"What?" Willow said. "Angel's back? I must have hearing problems
because I almost thought you said--"
"Angelus," Giles said, entering the room. "Hello, Oz. I hope you're
feeling okay?"
"Yeah, besides being a little sore, I'll survive," Oz replied. "Thanks
for letting me stay here, Giles."
"That's quite all right," Giles said. "Now, as I was saying... Yes, it
does appear that Angelus is back. Buffy tells me he visited her this
morning."
"But how? I don't understand," Willow said, still in disbelief.
"I don't know. It doesn't really matter, does it? All that does matter
is he's pretty ticked about the Acathla thing, and he came back for
revenge," Buffy said. "I can handle him, but he's made it clear I'm
one of the last on his list of torture victims. So I'd feel better if
you guys stayed inside after dark, until we can take care of this.
And also, Wills, you still have access to the spell, right?"
"The gypsy curse? I suppose I do, but I don't know if we should do
that--"
"What do you mean, 'you don't know!" Buffy yelled back. "Of couse this
is what we should do, how could you even question that!"
"Buffy, I think Willow is trying to say that if we don't know how
Angel lost his soul, we can't be sure that the curse will be
effective," Giles tried to reason with his slayer.
"Oh, come on, you two, we all know how he lost his soul. Moment of
true happiness remember?" Buffy said bitterly, " -- And _DONT_ look
at me like that, I wasn't saying it was _my_ fault. I haven't seen
Angel since Thanksgiving!"
"Buffy, you don't know that's how it happened," Willow replied. "I
mean, I guess it's a possibility, but we don't know how many other
ways that this might have happened. So all I was saying is, let's
hold off on the Gypsy curse until me and Giles, if he has time, can
do some research. Okay?"
"Fine, whatever," Buffy muttered. "I gotta go warn Riley about this."
"And Xander!" Willow reminded her. At Buffy's blank look, she added,
"You remember Xander don't you? Tall, goofy guy? You know, he used to
hang out with us? When there was an us?"
As Buffy just continued to give her a puzzled look, Willow sighed
with exasperation and continued, "Buffy, chances are that Angelus
remembers Xander, therefore he's in more danger than Riley, who
Angelus may not even know about."
"Fine," Buffy shrugged. "I'll drop by Xander's after I see Riley." and
walked out the door.
"AAAARGH!" Willow yelled when Buffy had left the apartment. "Do you
_see_ what I mean???? She's so not-Buffy lately!"
"She did seem a little less interested in, well, anything other than
you doing the curse, and her seeing Riley," Oz agreed.
"G-" Willow looked over to where Giles had been standing, but he had
escaped back to the living room. "Giles?" Willow and Oz walked to
where Giles was sitting at a nearby desk, searching through
books. "Do you think there might be another reason that Angel went
soulless again?"
"If there's one thing I've learned from my years on the Hellmouth,
Willow, it's that usually the simplest answer isn't usually the right
one."
"I think that's Giles-speak for yes," Oz said with a grin.
"Okay, so vampire research here we come," Willow said, as she grabbed
a book and started going through it.
&&&&&&&
Riley's frat house
11 am
Buffy went to Riley's room, but he wasn't there. "That's weird," she
said, checking her watch. "He doesn't have any classes until this
afternoon. Maybe he's got Initiative stuff to take care of."
She checked his door, and it was unlocked, so she went in to leave
him a note to call her the minute he got in. On her way out the door
of the fraternity, she ran into Tara. "Oh, hey, Tara."
"Hey, Buffy have you seen--"
"Willow?" Buffy finished with a smile. "Yeah she's at Giles' place.
She'll probably be there for a while. But I'm sure she wouldn't mind
if you dropped by."
"Okay, maybe I will later, thanks."
As Tara walked away, Buffy thought, *Now what else was it that I was
supposed to do? Oh, well. It must not have been that important, or I'd
remember it.*
&&&&&&
Spike's mansion
3 pm
Angelus walked into the room where Cordelia and Wesley were tied
up. "So how are our guests doing?" he asked with a grin.
"MGPHGH!" Cordelia said behind her gag, making Angelus laugh.
"Okay, I suppose I could ungag you. I _am_ bored." He reached down
and pulled the gag form her mouth.
"You are _so_ going to be dustboy, as soon as Buffy finds out!"
Cordelia spat at him.
"Oh, she knows, and I'm not dust, am I?" Angelus taunted her. "What's
wrong, Cordy? Cat got your tongue? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I
don't think Buffy is going to be that much of a problem."
"She was just in shock, but when she comes back to her senses, she'll
deal with you," Cordelia insisted.
"Sure she will. You just keep telling yourself that. In the meantime,
I have some fun planned for tonight. I was thinking of who I should go
after first, and I just couldn't decide. The witch or the... well,
that's one thing I never could figure out. What _is_ Xander's use in
that pathetic Scooby Gang? I suppose it doesn't matter anyway. He'll
be dead, like all the rest of you, very soon."
"Oh, is this where I'm supposed to say, 'Oh, no, evil vampire guy.
Please don't hurt me!'?" Cordelia said sarcastically.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to be a vampire?" Angelus asked,
stroking her face. "You'd stay young and beautiful forever."
"Eeww! I think no would be an understatement," Cordelia said, trying
to scoot away from his touch.
"Don't you have anything better to do than torment them?" Spike asked
as he walked in. "I thought that you preferred a good hunt, Angelus.
And there's no hunt if they're already bound and gagged. So where's
the fun?"
"Well, hello, Spike! Glad you decided to come back. I was just telling
Cordelia here that I couldn't decide which member of the Scoobies to
go after first. Xander or Willow. Personally, I think the witch would
be a fun one to go after."
"You can't do that," Spike said quickly.
"Oh, I can't?" Angelus replied. "And why is that?" he asked, standing
up and facing Spike.
"I just meant that I thought your plan was a slow, steadily worsening,
torture of the Slayer. Go after Red, and Buffy will come at you so
fast you won't know what hit you.
"If you want to just moderately irritate, go after Xander first. Make
Buffy watch Red's pain at losing her best-friend-slash-whatever-the
hell-else-he-is-to-her. Buffy will be upset, but not enough to go
after her precious Angel.
"Then you can go after Red, but by then, be ready for the wrath of
Buffy. Just my suggestion, though. Take it or leave it," Spike said
with a shrug, and walked back into the living room.
"See? That's why I chose you, Spike," Angelus said, following
him. "You think things through, all different possibilities. Whereas
I was just thinking, 'torture the Slayer', and didn't really care how
it got done, you were thinking, 'how can we torture the Slayer and
get the most enjoyment out of it.' That's where we make a good team,"
he said with a grin.
Riley saved Spike from having to come up with a witty response by
walking in at that moment.
"Oh, bloody hell," Spike muttered with a roll of the eyes. "You were
supposed to stay away, you idiot. If Buffy finds you here, it kind of
negates the surprise, remember?" he yelled at his childe.
"She didn't follow me," Riley replied sullenly. "I called Giles', and
she was there. She warned me about Angelus, she thinks I'm in danger
from him," he added with a smile.
"You," Angelus said with a chuckle, "must be Spike's childe." He
looked the blond vampire up and down quickly. He turned to Spike,
asking, "What, exactly was your big, important reason for turning him
again, Spike?"
"Oh, shove it where the sun don't shine," Spike muttered and walked
back into his bedroom. He found he far preferred the company of the
bound and gagged Cordelia and Wesley to that of the two vampires in
the other room.
&&&&&&&&&
Giles' house
8 pm
Giles, Buffy, Willow and Oz were poring through all of Giles' books,
looking for any reason that Angel would have lost his soul other than
the already-known one. Buffy threw a book across the room, and said,
"This is pointless, guys. Who cares how Angel lost his soul, we just
return it to him, and that's that."
"Buffy, something tells me that Angel going soulless isn't going to be
fixed by the gypsy curse," Willow replied.
"What makes you say that?" Giles asked curiously.
"Well, we know who ultimately was behind it, right?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, Spike. First on my top-ten-most-wanted-dust list," Buffy said.
"Okay, but _he_didn't personally do it right? And I've been thinking,
you remember when he kidnapped me and Xander, he wanted me to do the
love spell on Dru. He's always been fascinated by magic and spells,
so what if that's how he did it."
"If that's the case," Giles said, "it might also be the case that
whoever performed the spell also is powerful enough to block any
attempts to reverse it."
"Which means we have to find out for sure," Buffy sighed. "Willow,
you have some more magic books at the dorm, right?"
"Yeah, I can call Xander and have him drop by and get them on his way
over. He is coming over, right?" At Buffy's confused look, Willow
continued, "Buffy you told Xander, right?"
When Buffy didn't answer, Willow jumped up and grabbed the Slayer by
the shoulders, "Buffy! Tell me you warned Xander!"
The light finally dawned in the slayer's brain, and she looked at
Willow apologetically.
Willow slapped her in the face, screaming, "What is WRONG WITH
YOU?!!! HOW could you forget to warn Xander! I shouldn't have HAD to
remind you, anyway! The self-obsession is OLD already, BUFFY! There
are other people in this world, and we are JUST AS IMPORTANT AS YOU
AND YOUR PRECIOUS RILEY!"
Willow jumped ran to the phone then. "Oh, please. Let him be there,
let him be there," she said, dialing the phone.
"Willow, I'm--" Buffy started to apologize.
"SHUT UP!!!!" Willow screamed. "If your carelessness caused--"
"Hey, it's okay," Oz said reassuringly, walking over to the panicked
red-head. "Xander's probably fine. He and Anya are--"
"NOT ANSWERING!!" Willow yelled.
End of 7