Part Eight.


Two days later


"Thank you so much for coming, please take a seat" Wesley considered shaking hands with his visitors but wasn't quite sure if the gesture was appropriate. Actually, from the look in the other men's eyes, Wesley wouldn't have been surprised if the greeting had been returned via a punch in the mouth. After all, he had used every threat under the sun to force the Sunnydale party into attending the meeting. *Blackmail* was indeed a dirty word; but Wesley had given up caring about playing dirty, two days earlier, when Angel had calmly walked into Cordelia's office and employed her to find Buffy.

That turn of events had changed all the rules and now, as far as he was concerned, all bets were off.

The frantic late night phone call to Giles, after travelling for nearly twelve hours straight, had made his position very clear. Either the Scooby's arrive for the meeting in LA, and deal with this mess once and for all, or they live with the consequences. Much to his relief, the threat had been taken seriously.

There was of course one small fly in the ointment. How would Buffy cope with the news that Angel was now in LA. And, more importantly, that he was getting closer by the second?

Giles had made his position on that very clear before slamming down the phone.

**Buffy would be told of this meeting over his dead body. She had enough to worry about without hanging all this obsession crap around her small shoulders. ** Wesley had no doubt that the only reason they had, reluctantly, agreed to meet was to send Angel straight back to England, as soon as possible with no questions asked.

**Boy, were they in for a surprise** he thought as he replaced the buzzing receiver.

*****
Rupert Giles entered the room, closely followed by Xander and heavily pregnant Anya Harris. All three looked far from happy as they made their way to the large table situated in the middle of the office. To say the summons to LA had not been received well was the understatement of the year. The Scoobys were seriously pissed off.

"Hello Cordelia" Giles at least tried to sound polite as he took the vacant seat next to the ex cheerleader. He then turned and silently acknowledged Gunn, the other member of the LA party whilst waiting for Wesley to take his seat.

"Right, well we all know why we're here, I suggest we sort this mess out once and for all." Wesley took a deep breath. He knew at once, just by the look of determination plastered across Giles' and Xander's faces, that this meeting was going to be one of the hardest battles he had ever fought.

Years earlier he might have shrunk back at the responsibility, but not any longer. Wesley was a much different man to the weakling Watcher of his Sunnydale days and, with his new found strength, he refused to let the two angry men opposite intimidate or undermine him in any way.

**Besides, he hadn't had a real fight in over five years now and some things really were worth getting down and dirty for ** The younger Englishman had no doubt that if push came to shove, the situation would get more than a little dirty. If the six of them couldn't agree on a course of action, things could get damn right bloody.

Setting his eyes with his own look of determination, he continued

"Five years ago, most of us in this room made the difficult decision that it would be in Angel's best interest to start a new life out of this country, with no memory of either his or the demon's past."

As he spoke, Wesley's eyes flickered towards Cordelia asking for silent approval that the speech was moving in the right direction, when she smiled and nodded affectionately, he grew in confidence and pushed ahead

"At the time, although this was an extremely painful decision, especially for Buffy, it seemed the right thing for all concerned."

Although nobody interrupted, the tension in the room seemed to multiply at the sound of Buffy's name. Both Giles' and Xander's eyes never once left his face as they waited to see where all this was leading.

They didn't have to wait long.

"But, circumstances have now changed, and on reflection, I think we all made a big mistake by not giving Angel the choice about his past" Wesley took a slight pause, the room fell so silent you could've heard a pin drop six blocks down as each member waited the outcome.

"...And on this reflection I think we should put it right" Wesley's fingers gripped the edge of table until his knuckles turned white, before delivering the final punch

" I propose we tell Angel the truth" he rattled out the last few words like machine gun fire and braced himself for the counter attack.

He didn't have to wait long.

"THE HELL WE WILL!!" Xander exploded right back with all the force of a V2 rocket. He'd known this was coming from the second he'd walked through the door, **No fucking way was that happening, he'd kill the smarmy Brit first**

Uproar split the room right down the middle, as both sides stood their ground and refused to give an inch. It was almost like old times, when the two small groups rallied around their own chosen one with fierce loyalty. Politeness went out the window as each member of the room shouted out their own point of view and damned anybody who dared to disagree.

"The man is tormented, the one part of his dream that consistently screams out night after night is that * it wasn't his choice*. He needs to be told!!" Wesley slammed his hand down hard in frustration, a large pitcher of ice water shuddered in the middle of the table with the force of the blow, its' contents slopping messily over the polished wood.

Anya rolled her eyes at the testosterone induced action and started soaking up the spilt water with loose paper sheets before it soaked her clothing.

The other two at the table watched while Giles, Xander and Wesley continued to shout each other down as the argument heated towards boiling point. By then, nobody could understand a word of what anyone else was saying.

Wesley shook his head in disgust; he couldn't believe how little compassion the other two men showed for Angel's pain.

**In their eyes nothing had ever really changed, once a monster always a monster** he silently fumed and attacked the table instead of one of their faces.

The older watcher was just as frustrated as he jumped to his feet and almost growled.

"And who do you think should tell him. You? Me? Or maybe we could ask Buffy, I'm sure she would just love the job. I can just see her happy little face as she drops that bombshell.... Oh wait, we can't do that, Buffy's only holding on by her finger nails as it is" Giles' eyes were beyond furious that these people, who supposedly loved the girl as much as he did, could want to see her crumble even further.

** Angel might have been having a hard time, but he had watched Buffy tear herself apart for years now and she was still only just putting it behind her. To hell with Angel's small problems, Buffy was the one in real danger here**

"So, you want to sacrifice Buffy's feelings and the last five years of pain, so Angel can stop having a few bad dreams?" Giles' voice dripped in sarcasm.

"Why don't you act your age and stop being so bloody patronising" Wesley shouted back, his body jerking so hard the chair behind his legs crashed to the floor. He rested his hands on the table, as he leaned forward into Giles' face. "We are not talking about a few bad dreams here. We're talking about a man pushed to the point of obsession and besides, the Oracles have made it perfectly clear that he will find Buffy, with or without our help. So, I'll be dammed if I watch my friend tear himself apart until that day happens"

At this point Xander stood, knocking over his own chair.

Without saying a word, Gunn's eyes flickered between the three men waiting to see who would throw the first punch; he then looked towards Cordelia and almost smiled at the realisation that it might very well be her.


" Let me get this right, you want to tell Angel that he used to be a monster, a blood sucking fiend that almost destroyed the girl he supposedly loved. You want to tell him about all the evil he created in his past and take away everything he ever believed was good about his new life? ...I'm thinking that's real good of you, Wesley " Xander smirked . He was totally against the idea of ex dead boy messing with Buffy's life again in any way.

**Vampire or not, Angel was always trouble.** as far as Xander was concerned.

"Of course not, that wouldn't help anybody. Look, apart from Dawn, Tara and, to some extent, Oz, we are the only living souls in this world who know the *full* history of what happened to Angel. The Watchers' Council are all convinced that he is long dead and forgotten, so that case is well closed. We can tell him as much or as little as we deem fitting and he will be none the wiser. I think we should tell him enough to explain what is happening to him but not enough to destroy the man he has become"

"You're deluding yourself again, Wes. How can being told he's an ex vampire not destroy him?" Xander almost laughed, the only thing that stopped him was the subject was simply too important to be funny.

"You also seem to be forgetting one more thing, what about Tara and Oz? They have more reason to hate Angel than anybody, you can't rely on them keeping quiet once they find out" Xander's voice was tinged with sadness as he remembered the pretty redhead that Angelus had so cruelly killed. That black day still brought unbearable pain to all their hearts. The Scooby gang had also lost Tara that day, she hadn't died like Willow, but the reminders were just too painful and she had left soon after, choosing to live abroad.

Wesley met Xander's gaze and nodded sadly.

" I have spoken to both Oz and Tara about this, they will agree to anything we decide, both understand that Angel was not in any way responsible for Willow's death. Look, I'm not saying we tell him every single minute detail, a lot of the past must stay just there, in the past. But he needs to know about Buffy, for God's sake the guy's in danger of imploding"

"And so is Buffy" Giles smirked thinking he had gained a point.

"So we're damned if we do and damned if we don't?" Gunn made his presence known for the first time. The large quiet man hated that these two people, who obviously adored each other, should be put through such a hell.

" Couldn't they just meet up and start out like a normal couple, why tell him anything? Why not just let the guy find the girl on his own and let nature take it's course?" he added as an after thought.

"Buffy is still the Slayer, she still slips out and fights demons at bed time. You can't have a relationship built on lies, Buffy has already accepted that" Giles removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. That was a question he himself had once asked her, and Buffy was right, she could never lie to Angel, not on that scale, the pressure would be too great and the past was bound to catch her out"

"Enough! Like it or not we have a serious problem here, we have to all pull together to help Angel. Do you really think Buffy would want him to suffer like this? Hell, if she loves him so much she wouldn't think twice about ending his pain" Cordelia had tried to stay out of the argument but even she found it impossible. Taking a calming breath she continued.

"I really don't think we have a choice, Angel's not going to stop looking for her either way, and one day out of the blue he's going to come knocking on the Buff's door and..."

"For Godsake just tell the guy, let him solve the damn problem. Who knows, they might just live happily ever after?" Anya's clear voice cut through the air with a simplicity that stopped the argument cold.

The whole table turned deadly quiet.

"Honey, you do remember who we're talking about here? Buffy and Angel, there are no happy endings, they are not allowed a happy ending" At the sad truth of his statement, Xander felt a strong desire to touch his wife's hand, counting his lucky stars that he had his own happy ending growing in front of him.

"Well, maybe it's time they were allowed. Maybe they deserve a break. Who the hell are we to decide their future?" Anya huffed. She was hot and uncomfortable and her feet hurt, the sooner they got back to the hotel the happier she would be.

"I agree" a quiet, defeated, voice spoke, shaking them all.

Everyone then changed direction and stared at the man who had spoken.

"I'm sorry but I could have sworn I just...?" Wesley was cut off before he got a chance to finish..

"I said I agree" Giles interrupted again.

" We don't have a choice, it can't continue on like this, that's for sure. And you are right, one day he will find her, so maybe it's better she knows he's coming and that way she can face him. Besides, Anya's right, we can't see the future, maybe there will be a happy ending" the last part was spoken with very little confidence.

The others just stood watching the older man concede defeat.

"So, it's agreed, we tell Angel." Wesley looked around the table as each face sadly nodded its agreement

"Any volunteers?" he asked again already knowing the answer.

Nobody spoke.

Wesley inwardly sighed

"Well I suggest you call him and tell him that we have the information he was looking for." he looked toward Cordelia as she reached for the phone.

"I just hope we're doing the right thing" Giles muttered sadly to himself as he started for the door, knowing he had his own phone call to make.

Wesley, on the other hand, had a slightly different worry.

"I just hope he believes us"

Cordelia stopped what she was doing and slipped her arm gently around Wesley's shoulders. Knowing that Wesley now faced the most difficult task of his life, she squeezed his lean body into hers, lovingly giving him her full support.

" He will, I don't know why, but trust me, he will "

TBC