Disclaimer: I claim no right over the characters from BtVS portrayed in the piece of
fiction. All rights of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer is reserved by Mutant Enemy,
Sandollar, Kuzui Enterprises and Fox. This piece of fiction is not to be reproduced
anywhere or edited without the express consent of the author as named above.
Warning: This piece of literature contains scenes with violence, strong language and
religious references that may be considered offensive. Parental disgression should be
applied.
Chapter 7: Understanding
Doyle was mostly aware of the pain in his head. The blue monsters had hit him with
their large bone clubs and almost killed him in their initial rush at the house entrance.
However Willow`s wiccan magic and the inborn sense of paranoia possesed by anyone
from Sunnydale had proven a great blessing. Her spell had stopped them from coming
in through the basement, and Angel had been able to rescue his misunderstood friend.
The demons had not gone away though and at that moment were patrolling the outside
and the sewers, spoiling for a fight and looking for a way in.
The worst part was that they had no idea, who had sent the demons. Angel had gotten
through to Willow at the university and they should be out at that moment looking for
their enemy and some kind of support.
Angel sat down besides the half-demon, which lay in the office of the newly opened
Angel Investigations.
"If we don`t find a way to get rid of those demons soon, we`ll be in trouble. They`re
attacking the sewer barrier and it`s only a matter of time, before they wear down the
energies of the spell. And they are also watching us from the alley across the street. I
counted at least three demons the last time I looked", Angel explained in a brisk voice.
"Maybe the kids have gotten to Whistler now, and are on the way over here with the
cavalry", Doyle suggested, eventhough he knew that Whistler almost never got directly
involved in fighting.
They sat in the dark office for a few minutes. "Maybe we should try to make a break for
it anyway", Doyle suggested.
Angel thought it over and then nodded in agreement. "I´ll check out the alley again", he
said and walked over to the window and peered outthrough the blinds.
He stared into the deep darkness and saw the three demons still standing there intent
on killing him and Doyle the second they were able to. Suddenly he saw movement in
the alley. Someone stepped out behind them. A strong red flash blinded him. When the
spots cleared he saw no demons and Willow walking out of the alley wearing a great
smile and waving at Xander and Cordelia, who were parking the car outside the door
like the siege had never happened.
"What`s going on. Have they lost their minds? There could be more demons out there
and there is still a lot of them in the sewers", Angel cursed and turned to Doyle.
Suddenly there was the sound of screaming and the crackle of lightning downstair.
"No time to worry about that. It sounds like they`re making the final push for the sewer
entrance", Doyle said and unsteadily got to his feet.
"Should we flee?", he asked his vampiric friend. "No we have a chance now even if it`s
a small one. We have all our resources here, we should try to stop them", Angel said
and ran towards the basement access. Doyle reluctantly followed.
Meanwhile Willow, Xander and Cordy walked up to the barricaded frontdoor.
Angel and Doyle stood in the pitchblack room, before the access hatch to the sewers.
The noise from below was ghastly. "That`s sounds like they`re almost through", Angel
commented and grapped the axe handle harder. Slowly things fell silent. Something
was climbing the ladder up to the hatch.
"Here they come", Doyle said and stared into dark room. The demons had cut the power
lines a couple of hours ago.
Something pushed at the blockaded hatch. Angel had put a cupboard on top of it. There
was silence for a moment. Suddenly there was a great crash and the cupboard flew off.
The hatch had been smashed to bits. They got ready to fight for their lives.
Xander tinkered with the fusebox outside the house, while Willow and Cordy finally got
the door opened and rushed inside.
A small figure rose into the dark room. Doyle and Angel both felt a strange feeling of
apprehension, a gut feeling that something very very dangerous was standing right
before them. Angel needed no more incitement and charged the creature, growling and
wearing his vampiric visage.
Xander got the power back on and the lights came on all over the house.
Willow and Cordelia burst into the cellar and screamed for Angel to stop his deadly
charge upon the recently returned Buffy.
Doyle collapsed in pain as another unbidden vision overwhelmed him.
Angel bore down on the small figure and to late saw in the new light that this wasn`t a
blueskinned demon, but instead a very human looking blond girl. His axe dove towards
her unguarded neck.
Buffy sensed the danger, dropped down onto her hands, crouched forward and kicked
both her feet up and back into the chest of her presumed attacker.
Angel landed hard on his back. The axe landed harmlessly besides his prone form.
The group sat around the kitchen table. Angel was nursing a serious bruise in his chest,
Doyle was trying to drown his migraine in a bottle of bourbon and all the while everyone
was confused over the return of a friend yet happy for the same event.
"So what happened to those demons in the sewers", Xander asked and looked at the
blond girl.
"Those morons were actually trying to tear through Willow`s spell by physical pressure.
Most were in a very damaged state. I made quick work of them by using a lead pipe as
a club. Their heads weren`t really hard enough to handle that", she explained.
Angel had been strangely subdued after he had discovered the true identity of his
attacker. He seemed to be in a state of shock. Finally after maintaining an hour long
silence he asked: "Are you staying this time?".
Buffy looked at the unhappy man. It was actually disturbing her to be around him. All her
senses and instincts screamed for her to reach out and snuff the demon sitting only
meters from her, but her heart loved him and cried out for her to go to him and
apolegize for her mistake, for her death, and it still against all reason held out hope for
them to find happiness. But Buffy`s mind knew that it could never be. Now more than
ever. She had chosen to become a warrior of the good forces in the universe and it
could never be. Wisdom acquired in quiet comtemplation asserted itself and reason
prevailed. With a friendly smile she replied: "Yes, this time I am around for good".
Doyle, who was constantly staring at the blond girl finally managed to say. "We need
your help. I saw you in my vision and I also saw a few hints of our enemy. I saw a
name: Wolfram and Hart and the name of three people: Ripper, Janna and Joyce. I am
drawing a blank with those though", he explained.
"Giles", Willow said and looked to Buffy.
"And my mother", she acknowledged bitterly.
"Then who is this Janna. The name sounds Romani", Angel asked.
"It is. It`s Jenny`s old name before she changed it. She told me, when we were learning
the Art", Willow explained. "What`s up with them?", she thought and looked towards the
half-demon and Angel, who both seemed constantly stare at Buffy with a mixture of both
fear and bewilderment in their eyes. She decided to question them about it later, when
Buffy wasn`t around.
Doyle looked at Willow for a second and blinked before he explained in his accented
english: "They were standing before some humans and a lot of demons. Someone was
chanting a prayer to the dark gods. Offering them as sacrifice. I don`t know where they
were though".
"Where does my mother live now?", Buffy got up and walked around the kitchen.
"Well the last I heard she had moved back here. The gallery was sold for a rather large
sum and she opened a new one here. We talk on the phone from time to time, but I
think the only one she regularly was in contact with was Giles. I have her address
though", Willow explained.
"That`s the first place we look", Buffy said and waved for Willow to follow her. "You guys
try to find out, what happened to Giles and Jenny and be careful", she added as she
went out the door. Like it was the most natural things to do everyone immediately
followed her orders. Xander, Cordelia, Doyle and Angel drove out into the suburbs
towards the home of the Giles family.
"Isn`t it strange to be back?", Willow asked and looked at Buffy.
Buffy smiled at her girlfriend, who was driving a very nice car with a cell phone lying on
the dashboard and a spellbook in the glove compartment. "Very. I haven`t aged
physically since then. And I was gone for such a long time. I missed so much. And I
haven`t come back to get my old life back. Buffy Summers died. The most I can get
from this is an existence with my friends and the destruction of the forces of evil", she
explained.
"That sounds kind of sad", Willow commented.
"Yeah, I know. It is my choice though. I have a second chance to at least experience the
world and life even if it`s not the life I was originally destined to. Oh, well destinies
change", Buffy looked at the world as it passed outside the car window.
"You seem a little more aggressive in combat than you used to", Willow blurted as her
thoughts moved quicker than her sense of tact.
Buffy nodded solemnly. "I was brought back in a warrior`s body. Everything in my
physical body has been made for fighting. You must understand that this body is really
not made for playing nice. It`s made for war and so unfortunately even if I have a much
more calm and balanced outlook on life now, when I get in a fight with demons I react
with unmigitated violence. So yeah I am a little on the very very aggressive side of
fighting, but it even feels right to be like that now. I work for the good guys now, but they
understand that to win a battle one must rely on the force of violence. Peace and loving
might be the antithesis of the dark forces, but it won`t kill them. I had to accept to never
achieve peace or the eternal joy or whatever comes after death. I accepted a position
as a warrior and so I carry some eternal darkness in me as well. A warrior kills. I
understand this and accept it".
Buffy looked away into the night, while Willow finally understood that while her friend
had returned, she had come back without the doubts and insecurities that had plaqued
Buffy. She had gained insight into realms open only to the blessed and the dead. She
had become a barrier between the light and the dark. Buffy was back, but not as Buffy
not as the Slayer. No, she had returned to be the protector and guide of mankind
towards whatever the forces of good planned for this world.
The car drove up in front of the gallery building. Buffy`s mother lived in a flat above it.
The two girls walked up to the metal stairwell. However it was clear that they were to
late. The heavy metal door, which constituted the frontdoor of the Summers residence
was hammered in and lay on the wooden floor.
Soundlessly Buffy glided into the darkness. Her eyes easily adjusted to the darkness
and allowed her sight like it was in the full light of day. "Stay here, while I look this place
over for a second or two", she whispered and disappeared into the darkened apartment.
Moments later the two girls were seated on the couch in the living room. On a wall there
were a poster size picture of Buffy sitting on the lawn before the house in Sunnydale. It
had been taken just weeks before her death. Willow looked over Buffy. Her hair was
hanging free except two long braids which contained her fringe and kept the hair out of
her face. This combined with the heavy leather jacket and baggy jeans gave her a wild
look like she was used to living in the wilderness or the hardest urban enviroment.
"You seem very calm", Willow said and looked over the room once more. It was very
clear that someone had kidnapped Buffy`s mother.
"Getting all worked up now, will only get in the way of my revenge. Whoever did this is
going to their grave fast", Buffy explained and smiled a feral smile, which Willow had
only seen before when a stupid vampire had been cornered without a chance of
survival.
"Let`s head out. We`ll have to find us a few demons to torture for information", Buffy
explained and Willow believed her.
It was almost morning, when Willow and Buffy got back to the house. They weren`t
greeted by happy faces. Somehow Angel had gotten a large gash above his right eye
and Xander was lying down on the couch nursing a bruised arm.
"What happened?", Willow asked and looked despairingly at Xander.
"We were to late to save them Will. They must have decided to come home early, the
hood of their car was still warm, when we got there. But someone had already gotten
them. The house was a mess and there were some blood traces as well according to
Angel. But they had left us a welcoming party. Two of those blue demons. If Giles
hadn`t kept such a large weapon collection, we would have been goners instead of just
beaten up", Xander explained and looked at the blond girl standing in the doorframe.
Buffy saw his look and said: "They have my mother as well. But we got a clue. I was
able to torture some information out of one of those critters again. They have Whistler at
a safehouse down by something called pier 39. They can`t kill him yet, they need some
information from him first".
"Tortured?", Xander asked and looked to Willow.
Willow shuddered at the memory of Buffy ramming her hand into the demon`s guts and
fiddling around with the stuff in there. "Don`t ask", she replied.
Buffy walked over to Xander and knelt besides him.
"I am going to do something. Please don`t move", she asked him and grabbed hold of
the arm.
Xander was about to yell in pain suddenly it subsided. A pleasant warmth spread
through him. The pain disappeared. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a white light
glow around Buffy like a thin aura. His bruise had disappeared.
"Cool", Cordelia and Willow chorused.
"Healing hands?", Angel asked.
"Not really", Buffy stated and rolled up the sleeve of her t-shirt. A small bruise was
visible on the exact spot where Xander`s had been centered. It was disappearing fast.
"I take the pain and damage into me. My body heals very fast. And pain never lasts",
she explained and smiled at the suddenly astonished look on Willow`s face.
"You healed me as well. Bach in the alley after the demons punched me in my
stomach", Willow said in amazement.
"You were bleeding internally. If I hadn`t done it, you would have been in the intersive
care ward at the hospital fighting for your life right now", Buffy explained.
"Then why don`t you heal Angel then we can try and find that weird demon guy",
Cordelia asked and gestured towards Angel.
"I couldn`t. His current demonic body would be burned to cinders not healed if I unleash
those powers on him", Buffy explained and looked to Angel.
Suddenly he understood the friendly but non-sexual tone he got from Buffy. Before her
death they had barely been able to avoid kissing all the time, but now she could only be
his friend. He understood now for the first time that any relationship with Buffy was not
only doomed to fail but also would have been bad for her and her development as a
normal human woman. His love and lust for her had been wrong and egotistical. He was
centuries older than her. He should have kept it professional. He had used her, even if
she had been very very willing. Now it finally dawned on him. And he was one step
closer to his true destiny.
fiction. All rights of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer is reserved by Mutant Enemy,
Sandollar, Kuzui Enterprises and Fox. This piece of fiction is not to be reproduced
anywhere or edited without the express consent of the author as named above.
Warning: This piece of literature contains scenes with violence, strong language and
religious references that may be considered offensive. Parental disgression should be
applied.
Chapter 7: Understanding
Doyle was mostly aware of the pain in his head. The blue monsters had hit him with
their large bone clubs and almost killed him in their initial rush at the house entrance.
However Willow`s wiccan magic and the inborn sense of paranoia possesed by anyone
from Sunnydale had proven a great blessing. Her spell had stopped them from coming
in through the basement, and Angel had been able to rescue his misunderstood friend.
The demons had not gone away though and at that moment were patrolling the outside
and the sewers, spoiling for a fight and looking for a way in.
The worst part was that they had no idea, who had sent the demons. Angel had gotten
through to Willow at the university and they should be out at that moment looking for
their enemy and some kind of support.
Angel sat down besides the half-demon, which lay in the office of the newly opened
Angel Investigations.
"If we don`t find a way to get rid of those demons soon, we`ll be in trouble. They`re
attacking the sewer barrier and it`s only a matter of time, before they wear down the
energies of the spell. And they are also watching us from the alley across the street. I
counted at least three demons the last time I looked", Angel explained in a brisk voice.
"Maybe the kids have gotten to Whistler now, and are on the way over here with the
cavalry", Doyle suggested, eventhough he knew that Whistler almost never got directly
involved in fighting.
They sat in the dark office for a few minutes. "Maybe we should try to make a break for
it anyway", Doyle suggested.
Angel thought it over and then nodded in agreement. "I´ll check out the alley again", he
said and walked over to the window and peered outthrough the blinds.
He stared into the deep darkness and saw the three demons still standing there intent
on killing him and Doyle the second they were able to. Suddenly he saw movement in
the alley. Someone stepped out behind them. A strong red flash blinded him. When the
spots cleared he saw no demons and Willow walking out of the alley wearing a great
smile and waving at Xander and Cordelia, who were parking the car outside the door
like the siege had never happened.
"What`s going on. Have they lost their minds? There could be more demons out there
and there is still a lot of them in the sewers", Angel cursed and turned to Doyle.
Suddenly there was the sound of screaming and the crackle of lightning downstair.
"No time to worry about that. It sounds like they`re making the final push for the sewer
entrance", Doyle said and unsteadily got to his feet.
"Should we flee?", he asked his vampiric friend. "No we have a chance now even if it`s
a small one. We have all our resources here, we should try to stop them", Angel said
and ran towards the basement access. Doyle reluctantly followed.
Meanwhile Willow, Xander and Cordy walked up to the barricaded frontdoor.
Angel and Doyle stood in the pitchblack room, before the access hatch to the sewers.
The noise from below was ghastly. "That`s sounds like they`re almost through", Angel
commented and grapped the axe handle harder. Slowly things fell silent. Something
was climbing the ladder up to the hatch.
"Here they come", Doyle said and stared into dark room. The demons had cut the power
lines a couple of hours ago.
Something pushed at the blockaded hatch. Angel had put a cupboard on top of it. There
was silence for a moment. Suddenly there was a great crash and the cupboard flew off.
The hatch had been smashed to bits. They got ready to fight for their lives.
Xander tinkered with the fusebox outside the house, while Willow and Cordy finally got
the door opened and rushed inside.
A small figure rose into the dark room. Doyle and Angel both felt a strange feeling of
apprehension, a gut feeling that something very very dangerous was standing right
before them. Angel needed no more incitement and charged the creature, growling and
wearing his vampiric visage.
Xander got the power back on and the lights came on all over the house.
Willow and Cordelia burst into the cellar and screamed for Angel to stop his deadly
charge upon the recently returned Buffy.
Doyle collapsed in pain as another unbidden vision overwhelmed him.
Angel bore down on the small figure and to late saw in the new light that this wasn`t a
blueskinned demon, but instead a very human looking blond girl. His axe dove towards
her unguarded neck.
Buffy sensed the danger, dropped down onto her hands, crouched forward and kicked
both her feet up and back into the chest of her presumed attacker.
Angel landed hard on his back. The axe landed harmlessly besides his prone form.
The group sat around the kitchen table. Angel was nursing a serious bruise in his chest,
Doyle was trying to drown his migraine in a bottle of bourbon and all the while everyone
was confused over the return of a friend yet happy for the same event.
"So what happened to those demons in the sewers", Xander asked and looked at the
blond girl.
"Those morons were actually trying to tear through Willow`s spell by physical pressure.
Most were in a very damaged state. I made quick work of them by using a lead pipe as
a club. Their heads weren`t really hard enough to handle that", she explained.
Angel had been strangely subdued after he had discovered the true identity of his
attacker. He seemed to be in a state of shock. Finally after maintaining an hour long
silence he asked: "Are you staying this time?".
Buffy looked at the unhappy man. It was actually disturbing her to be around him. All her
senses and instincts screamed for her to reach out and snuff the demon sitting only
meters from her, but her heart loved him and cried out for her to go to him and
apolegize for her mistake, for her death, and it still against all reason held out hope for
them to find happiness. But Buffy`s mind knew that it could never be. Now more than
ever. She had chosen to become a warrior of the good forces in the universe and it
could never be. Wisdom acquired in quiet comtemplation asserted itself and reason
prevailed. With a friendly smile she replied: "Yes, this time I am around for good".
Doyle, who was constantly staring at the blond girl finally managed to say. "We need
your help. I saw you in my vision and I also saw a few hints of our enemy. I saw a
name: Wolfram and Hart and the name of three people: Ripper, Janna and Joyce. I am
drawing a blank with those though", he explained.
"Giles", Willow said and looked to Buffy.
"And my mother", she acknowledged bitterly.
"Then who is this Janna. The name sounds Romani", Angel asked.
"It is. It`s Jenny`s old name before she changed it. She told me, when we were learning
the Art", Willow explained. "What`s up with them?", she thought and looked towards the
half-demon and Angel, who both seemed constantly stare at Buffy with a mixture of both
fear and bewilderment in their eyes. She decided to question them about it later, when
Buffy wasn`t around.
Doyle looked at Willow for a second and blinked before he explained in his accented
english: "They were standing before some humans and a lot of demons. Someone was
chanting a prayer to the dark gods. Offering them as sacrifice. I don`t know where they
were though".
"Where does my mother live now?", Buffy got up and walked around the kitchen.
"Well the last I heard she had moved back here. The gallery was sold for a rather large
sum and she opened a new one here. We talk on the phone from time to time, but I
think the only one she regularly was in contact with was Giles. I have her address
though", Willow explained.
"That`s the first place we look", Buffy said and waved for Willow to follow her. "You guys
try to find out, what happened to Giles and Jenny and be careful", she added as she
went out the door. Like it was the most natural things to do everyone immediately
followed her orders. Xander, Cordelia, Doyle and Angel drove out into the suburbs
towards the home of the Giles family.
"Isn`t it strange to be back?", Willow asked and looked at Buffy.
Buffy smiled at her girlfriend, who was driving a very nice car with a cell phone lying on
the dashboard and a spellbook in the glove compartment. "Very. I haven`t aged
physically since then. And I was gone for such a long time. I missed so much. And I
haven`t come back to get my old life back. Buffy Summers died. The most I can get
from this is an existence with my friends and the destruction of the forces of evil", she
explained.
"That sounds kind of sad", Willow commented.
"Yeah, I know. It is my choice though. I have a second chance to at least experience the
world and life even if it`s not the life I was originally destined to. Oh, well destinies
change", Buffy looked at the world as it passed outside the car window.
"You seem a little more aggressive in combat than you used to", Willow blurted as her
thoughts moved quicker than her sense of tact.
Buffy nodded solemnly. "I was brought back in a warrior`s body. Everything in my
physical body has been made for fighting. You must understand that this body is really
not made for playing nice. It`s made for war and so unfortunately even if I have a much
more calm and balanced outlook on life now, when I get in a fight with demons I react
with unmigitated violence. So yeah I am a little on the very very aggressive side of
fighting, but it even feels right to be like that now. I work for the good guys now, but they
understand that to win a battle one must rely on the force of violence. Peace and loving
might be the antithesis of the dark forces, but it won`t kill them. I had to accept to never
achieve peace or the eternal joy or whatever comes after death. I accepted a position
as a warrior and so I carry some eternal darkness in me as well. A warrior kills. I
understand this and accept it".
Buffy looked away into the night, while Willow finally understood that while her friend
had returned, she had come back without the doubts and insecurities that had plaqued
Buffy. She had gained insight into realms open only to the blessed and the dead. She
had become a barrier between the light and the dark. Buffy was back, but not as Buffy
not as the Slayer. No, she had returned to be the protector and guide of mankind
towards whatever the forces of good planned for this world.
The car drove up in front of the gallery building. Buffy`s mother lived in a flat above it.
The two girls walked up to the metal stairwell. However it was clear that they were to
late. The heavy metal door, which constituted the frontdoor of the Summers residence
was hammered in and lay on the wooden floor.
Soundlessly Buffy glided into the darkness. Her eyes easily adjusted to the darkness
and allowed her sight like it was in the full light of day. "Stay here, while I look this place
over for a second or two", she whispered and disappeared into the darkened apartment.
Moments later the two girls were seated on the couch in the living room. On a wall there
were a poster size picture of Buffy sitting on the lawn before the house in Sunnydale. It
had been taken just weeks before her death. Willow looked over Buffy. Her hair was
hanging free except two long braids which contained her fringe and kept the hair out of
her face. This combined with the heavy leather jacket and baggy jeans gave her a wild
look like she was used to living in the wilderness or the hardest urban enviroment.
"You seem very calm", Willow said and looked over the room once more. It was very
clear that someone had kidnapped Buffy`s mother.
"Getting all worked up now, will only get in the way of my revenge. Whoever did this is
going to their grave fast", Buffy explained and smiled a feral smile, which Willow had
only seen before when a stupid vampire had been cornered without a chance of
survival.
"Let`s head out. We`ll have to find us a few demons to torture for information", Buffy
explained and Willow believed her.
It was almost morning, when Willow and Buffy got back to the house. They weren`t
greeted by happy faces. Somehow Angel had gotten a large gash above his right eye
and Xander was lying down on the couch nursing a bruised arm.
"What happened?", Willow asked and looked despairingly at Xander.
"We were to late to save them Will. They must have decided to come home early, the
hood of their car was still warm, when we got there. But someone had already gotten
them. The house was a mess and there were some blood traces as well according to
Angel. But they had left us a welcoming party. Two of those blue demons. If Giles
hadn`t kept such a large weapon collection, we would have been goners instead of just
beaten up", Xander explained and looked at the blond girl standing in the doorframe.
Buffy saw his look and said: "They have my mother as well. But we got a clue. I was
able to torture some information out of one of those critters again. They have Whistler at
a safehouse down by something called pier 39. They can`t kill him yet, they need some
information from him first".
"Tortured?", Xander asked and looked to Willow.
Willow shuddered at the memory of Buffy ramming her hand into the demon`s guts and
fiddling around with the stuff in there. "Don`t ask", she replied.
Buffy walked over to Xander and knelt besides him.
"I am going to do something. Please don`t move", she asked him and grabbed hold of
the arm.
Xander was about to yell in pain suddenly it subsided. A pleasant warmth spread
through him. The pain disappeared. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a white light
glow around Buffy like a thin aura. His bruise had disappeared.
"Cool", Cordelia and Willow chorused.
"Healing hands?", Angel asked.
"Not really", Buffy stated and rolled up the sleeve of her t-shirt. A small bruise was
visible on the exact spot where Xander`s had been centered. It was disappearing fast.
"I take the pain and damage into me. My body heals very fast. And pain never lasts",
she explained and smiled at the suddenly astonished look on Willow`s face.
"You healed me as well. Bach in the alley after the demons punched me in my
stomach", Willow said in amazement.
"You were bleeding internally. If I hadn`t done it, you would have been in the intersive
care ward at the hospital fighting for your life right now", Buffy explained.
"Then why don`t you heal Angel then we can try and find that weird demon guy",
Cordelia asked and gestured towards Angel.
"I couldn`t. His current demonic body would be burned to cinders not healed if I unleash
those powers on him", Buffy explained and looked to Angel.
Suddenly he understood the friendly but non-sexual tone he got from Buffy. Before her
death they had barely been able to avoid kissing all the time, but now she could only be
his friend. He understood now for the first time that any relationship with Buffy was not
only doomed to fail but also would have been bad for her and her development as a
normal human woman. His love and lust for her had been wrong and egotistical. He was
centuries older than her. He should have kept it professional. He had used her, even if
she had been very very willing. Now it finally dawned on him. And he was one step
closer to his true destiny.
