Angel dragged Buffy into the bedroom and slammed the door. She gaped at him, rubbing her arm from where his fingers had dug into it. "What the hell are you doing?" she shouted at him.
Angel paced. "I can take that he's here, helping you. I can understand that. He's strong, he's got connections underground. But the touching. If he ever touches you like that again, so help me, I'll kill him," he growled.
Buffy stared at him. "What?"
"Oh, please," he spat at her, "'Oh, great job down there, way to stake that vampire, remember that time?'" he mimicked.
Buffy continued to stare at him.
"And you just jumped in the sewer, head first, without even checking out the situation," he said, continuing to walk around the room. "And then he touched you. Leaned in close," he stopped pacing and walked to her, bracing her shoulders with his hands, "he doesn't touch you anymore," he ordered.
Buffy stared at him for a moment. "This is about Spike," she said slowly, understanding.
Angel stared at her dumbly. "Yeah, it's about Spike!" he cried.
Slowly a smile played across her lips. She tried, unsuccessfully, to hide it. The smile soon led to chuckling, which progressed into full blown laughter.
It was Angel's turn to stare at her. "This is funny to you. Okay, I can see how—no, actually, I don't see how."
Her laughter slowed. "You're jealous…of Spike?"
"I'm not jealous!" he cried defensively.
"Are so," she taunted, grinning.
"Am not," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
She rolled her eyes. "Right. You're not jealous. That's why you dragged me to my bedroom, in front of everyone, I might add, and proceeded to make a speech that leaves me fully expecting the men in little white coats to be arriving any minute now."
Angel said nothing.
"Spike's just a friend, Angel," she told him, leaning back against her nightstand. "He's not your replacement. Not in any way. He's useful, and seems to keep showing up, so we let him work with us. Yes," she said, taking a breath, "he's proven to be an asset more than once, but he's still as big a pain in the ass as ever. But ever since Dawn…he's different, too. Like he feels guilty. She was his favorite."
Angel continued to say nothing, just stared at the floor, unconvinced and angry.
"I mean, so he kissed me that one time…" she said, and his head whipped up. "Kidding," she said, her voice small. "Not jealous, huh?"
He was at her side in a microsecond, "No," he said, and kissed her roughly. Angel couldn't get enough as he trailed kisses over her face and down her neck. He nipped lightly at his mark and she sucked in her breath, then moaned deeply. Her hands delved under his coat, seeking flesh as she brought her mouth to his again.
"Maybe you should show me some of the things he's not allowed to do," she whispered, her voice heady.
He growled and relieved her of her jacket. Angel lifted her roughly up onto the night-stand, knocking everything off of it in the process. "This," he said, kissing her savagely. His hands moved beneath her shirt. "And this," he snarled. Her legs wrapped themselves around his body, pressing him closer. Her nails dug into his back. He nibbled her ear, moved down to her neck again, then returned to her mouth, sucking on her bottom lip. "This too," he whispered as he pushed himself still closer to her, backing her completely against the wall. Buffy moaned deeply as she struggled to remove his coat. Suddenly the night-stand gave way and she fell to the floor with a crash, pulling him down with her. They stopped, surprised, and looked at each other.
"We broke the table," Buffy giggled.
Angel smiled but cursed himself in his mind. The second table we've broken, doing the exact same thing.
"Sorry," he said.
"It's okay," she whispered. "Worth it." She reached up and kissed him again. "Don't worry about Spike."
Angel snorted. "We'll see."
She smiled coyly. "Although, if this is how you react when you're jealous…my furniture bill's going to skyrocket."
He rolled his eyes and kissed her again. "We should be downstairs," he said reluctantly.
Her eyes lowered. "I know."
They righted themselves, leaving the dismantled night-stand where it fell. They walked down the stairs and into the living room where they found their friends involved in research. Everyone looked up expectantly when they entered.
Cordelia raised her eyebrows. "I don't even want to know."
Buffy and Angel exchanged a guilty look. "We had some issues to work out," she said.
Spike threw her a wicked grin. "I'll just bet you did."
"Where do we stand?" Angel asked, ignoring Spike.
"Well, I haven't gotten that far in the Codex, but there are few rather interesting parts," Giles said. "For one thing this refers to the Prophecies of Aberjian, ancient scrolls, that I believe…what?" he asked as Wesley walked to him and grabbed the book from his hands. He scanned it quickly then looked up at Angel, disbelief on his face.
"The Prophecies," he said to Angel.
"What?" Buffy demanded.
"The same Prophecy that says Angel will become human?" Cordelia cried, jumping up from her seat and walking to Wesley.
"Woah…what Prophecy?" Xander asked.
Buffy looked at Angel. "There's a Prophecy about you becoming mortal?" she asked.
He nodded, slowly. "Apparently."
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"Prophecies don't always come true. I didn't want to get your hopes up," he said, weakly.
"Just so you know, after tomorrow night you're going to develop a sore throat with all the talking you'll be doing," she said, slightly irritated.
"What does the Prophecy say?" Willow asked.
Wesley answered her. "It says that Angel gets to live until he dies…until he becomes human. The term is to 'Shanshu.' If I remember correctly it said that the vampire with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny, will Shanshu, or become mortal."
"It's his reward," Cordelia explained helpfully. "That part I remember."
"Shanshu…?" Willow said softly, thoughtfully.
"What does it say in the Codex about the Aberjian?" Angel asked.
Giles read aloud. "'The souled one of the Aberjian will fulfill his destiny. He will find the other half of his soul in the Chosen. Together they will create the Triumphant.'"
Everyone was silent. "What's the Triumphant?" Gunn asked finally.
"I don't know," Giles said thoughtfully.
"A child," Anya said softly, stepping forward. "Congratulations," she said to Buffy and Angel.
They stared at her, shocked. "Create a…a what?" Buffy asked.
"A Triumphant. A child of the blessed. That's been a rumor since back in my day, a myth, really," Anya explained. "The story went that the two greatest warriors of their time would give birth to the Triumphant One, the one who would lead the battle to rid the world of evil." She paused. "It was like a demon ghost story, you know, to scare the little demons into behaving."
"I need to sit down," Buffy said shakily.
"Yeah," Angel whispered. They remained standing, staring dumbly at the people gathered around them.
"A baby…wow," Willow said, glancing from Xander to Oz.
"Nothing like having your life all written out for you," Oz said quietly.
"Are you sure?" Buffy asked Giles.
Giles consulted the book. "That's what it says, Buffy," he said, as stunned as the rest of them.
"Wow," Willow repeated. "Yeah, I need to sit down," she said, slowly collapsing though there was no chair to catch her. Xander quickly kicked an ottoman and it saved her from hitting the ground.
"So we've gone from Angel's going to turn, to he's going to be saved, Buffy's the other half of his soul, and now they're going to have kids?" Gunn asked. Giles nodded. "Just so we're clear," Gunn said, settling into an armchair.
Giles had returned to studying the book. "There's a catch," he said.
"Always is," Buffy said, her voice hollow.
"'The souls will be tested, pitted against each other to determine their worth. The demon will rise and it the soul must defeat in a battle of will. The Chosen must spill the vampire's blood only when the demon is subdued.'"
Wesley gasped. "My God," he said.
"What?" Cordelia demanded. "Buffy has to kill Angel. We know that."
"Angel has to defeat Angelus," Giles said gravely.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked fervently. Giles glanced at Angel.
"He means that I have to kill my inner demon, force him down again after he rises. If I do, Buffy has to kill me as I am right now…as Angel," the vampire said softly.
Buffy turned to him in horror. "No," she said pitifully. "No."
"You have to," he said.
"I--I don't understand. How do you defeat the demon?" Willow asked.
"He'll have to be stronger than the will of the demon. Keep Angelus buried within him, not allowing him to surface. If he can do that, Buffy has to kill the souled Angel," Wesley explained quietly.
"Oh my God," Cordelia whispered. "So she's going to have to actually kill Angel? Not Angelus?"
Wesley nodded. There was a pregnant pause as they absorbed this new information.
"What's the problem then?" Spike asked from the back of the room.
"Not now," Xander ordered.
"What?" Spike asked, standing. His voice was angry. "Are you going to tell me that shear willpower can't keep him down? You've got everything to lose if you don't. You're the most stubborn bloke I've ever come across, you're standing at the beginning of a new life, and you're going to tell me you don't think you can do it?" he cried, stomping over to them. "You've got the Slayer back. You'll get your mortality. You'll have a child someday, for crying out loud. Not a big possibility in your current situation." He paused. "And more importantly, you won't have the guilt anymore. I may not feel it, I may not understand it, but I know that's what drives you. Think of it, mate. A clean slate. Absolved."
Angel stared at him.
"Wouldn't you rather it be this way?" Spike asked seriously. "To defeat the demon on your own rather than have the Slayer do it for you?"
Angel said nothing.
Spike turned to Buffy. "You can do this, too, you know. I know it doesn't feel that way now, but it's true. Not just because you've done it before, and certainly not 'cause you'll want to. You're the bloody Chosen. You're the end-all as far as Slayers go. And apparently you're meant for more than just all this," he said, throwing his arms out, indicating her life in its current situation. His voice became more gentle. "You'll do it because you know it's right, love. Don't need an ancient prophecy or some dusty scrolls to see that. You'll do it because…well, it's what you do."
She stared at him, wanting so badly to believe him.
Willow stepped forward. "Spike's right, Buffy. I know this is hard. I can't even imagine what you're going through. But I believe in you. I know you can do this. The getting there's the worst part, but think about what you'll gain when all this is over." She glanced at Angel. "That goes for you, too."
Buffy gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Will."
"Ok, not trying to take away from the touching moments we're having here, but we still don't know what's going to happen tomorrow night," Cordelia said.
Giles cleared his throat. "Give me a little more time to translate the Codex. See if I can find out anything about the Shanshu and the ritual."
Willow got a strange look on her face, which Oz noticed. "Will?" he asked, curiously.
She continued to look thoughtful when suddenly her eyes flew open wide. She gasped and jumped up off the ottoman. "Ohmigod!" she cried. "I'll be right back," she called as she ran up the stairs to the second floor.
Everyone exchanged glances as Willow pounded up the stairs. No one moved, not sure what to do. Moments later Willow flew down the stairs carrying several books. She skidded to a halt in the doorway to the room. "Got it," she said triumphantly.