A/N: This is Part Nine of the CLOSURE series. This is a sequel of the ENOUGH series, so please read that one first or this won't make any sense. Oh, and I haven't seen any of the new season of Angel, I'm making all this up. Please hang in there.

Disclaimer: You should know that this belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in getting the show on the air.

Feedback: As you wish.

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Angelus

The Hyperion had been nearly dead for the past three years. The usual life it had was nowhere to be seen, and the place was slowly falling apart.

Its owner was in no different shape.

A knock on the door alarmed said owner and woke him up. He saw the clock on the wall and noticed the time. Ten in the morning. He sighed and stood up. The knocking continued and this time it was louder.

"Coming, coming." The owner said, "Don't break the door."

He ran to the front door and opened it.

"What is it?" He asked. He received no answer from the person standing in front of him. Only a smirk and a nod.

"What do you want?" He again asked. He was still sleepy and was having trouble focusing the man standing in the doorway.

"It's been a long time, Angelus." The visitor said.

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"What do you mean you can't find him?" Xander asked. Anya shook her head.

"He's no longer in Portugal," Anya answered, "or anywhere in Europe."

 "Can you broaden the search?" Tara asked. Anya nodded and closed her eyes. Everyone around her yawned and stretched a bit. They had been on Buffy's house for a long time and they had been discussing a lot of things. Most of them concerning Spike. Finally, the consensus was that they'd give him a chance to explain why he did what he had done.

"Well, not Europe and no Asia," Anya said, "which leaves me with one last choice."

They all looked at each other again and wondered what was Anya talking about. Suddenly, her eyes flew open and stared at Buffy.

"What is it, Anya?" Buffy asked. Anya then looked at Xander and then back to Buffy.

"He's here, Buffy." Anya said, "He's in America. Los Angeles to be precise."

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Punch to the nose.

Nothing.

Kick to the leg.

Sunburn.

Angel couldn't believe what he was seeing. Not only was Spike standing in the sunlight but he was also not attacking back. The vampire was only smirking and Angel couldn't do anything about it.

"Getting slow in your old age, Angelus?" Spike asked. He enjoyed the look on his grandsire's eyes. A look that Spike himself had had in his early age as a vampire.

"What is going on here?" Angel asked. Spike stepped inside the hotel and looked around.

"Not bad, Angelus." Spike said, "Like the décor."

"I never said you could come in." Angel said, still holding his smoking leg.

"Don't need an invitation in a hotel." Spike replied, "You should know that."

Angel had his mouth open. He could only think of one explanation of why could Spike walk in the sun, but he had destroyed that 'explanation' years ago.

"What happened?" Angel asked. Spike looked at him and laughed. One of his cold, harsh laughs.

"You should see your face." He said, "It was worth the whole trip."

Spike stopped walking around the lobby and looked intently at Angel. He smirked and then gave Angel the finger.

"Very funny, Spike." Angel said. Spike's smile faded and he waved the finger around. Then Angel noticed the sparkle that was on Spike's finger. A ring.

And not any ring.

Angel's face turned into a grimace of surprise and anger.

"It can't be." Angel said.

"Oh, but it is." Spike replied.

"I destroyed it."

"Yes, you did."

"Then, how come?"

"Magic."

"Bull."

"It sounds like it, but no bull."

"You lie."

"You saw me standing in the sunlight, need any more proof?"

Angel growled, and morphed into his vampiric features. He lunged himself at Spike and a fight began. However, Angel was no match for Spike anymore. Spike received Angel's tackle and stepped back a few, but he held his ground and almost drove his knee through Angel's trunk. The older vampire only grunted but kept grabbing the younger vampire. Spike brought down his elbow hard on Angel's back. This time it did the trick and Angel was slammed to the ground because of the force of the impact. It took the older vampire a while to get up, which seemed strange to the younger vampire.

"You really are a mess." Spike said. He looked around and noticed another thing. There were no heartbeats on the entire building.

"Didn't you use to have some pets here?" Spike asked. Angel looked at him and his face revealed his confusion.

"Pets?" Angel asked.

"Yup, as in some humans running around here." Spike replied.

"Oh." Angel said, "No more."

"Kinda noticed that." Spike said, "Finally got tired of humans?"

"None of your business." Angel growled.

"The great Angelus is now living alone in an old, abandoned building." Spike said and chuckled a bit, "And to think I respected you once."

"You never respected anyone." Angel said.

"Oh, but I did." Spike said, "I respect strength and intelligence. You had both."

"What's the point to this?" Angel asked.

"I came here to kill you," Spike answered, "but it seems that someone did it before I got here."

"I'm not dust." Angel replied.

"Not like that, but you're a shadow of what you used to be." Spike stated.

"I don't like what I used to be." Angel hissed.

"Now, that's a lie." Spike said, "You enjoyed what you did. In fact, I'd say that you still smile in the night when you remember the old days."

"I'm not a monster like you." Angel growled.

"You got that right." Spike said, "I'm a much better monster than you."

"Still the old Spike." Angel snorted. Spike moved fast and slammed his fist into Angel's face. His left eye was shut out because of the force and the ferocity of the attack.

"Wrong, Angelus," Spike hissed, his eyes glowing gold, "I'm not at all what I used to be."

"You may not have the chip, but you're still a killer." Angel said, rubbing his left side of the face.

"News travel fast, I see." Spike said.

"Buffy was looking for you." Angel stated. Spike growled but kept standing still.

"She wanted to know if I had seen you." Angel continued, "That was two years ago."

"And?" Spike asked, almost growling.

"She told me everything that happened." Angel said. Spike looked intently at his grandsire.

"Everything?" Spike asked.

"She told me you were in love with her." Angel stated, and then he laughed, "Like you could love anyone."

"What's your point, old man?" Spike asked.

"Can't love without a soul." Angel said.

"You did." Spike shot back.

"Did what?"

"You loved without a soul."

"Couldn't."

"Then what was it with Darla?"

"She was my sire."

"That didn't require for you to love her."

"It was implied."

"No, it wasn't."

"You were attached the same way to Drusilla."

"I loved Dru."

"Well, I didn't love Darla."

"Liar."

"Believe what you want." Angel said, and walked into what used to be Wesley's office, "So, you're going to kill me or what?"

"My priorities have shifted," Spike said, and followed Angel into the office, "you know you lie."

"Why should I lie?" Angel snapped.

"Because your so called love and sacrifice for the slayer would be for naught." Spike stated.

"What?" Angel growled.

"Let's see things from my point of view," Spike said, as he plopped down on one of the old chairs, "you were a prick as a human. For what I've read, and the moment you were turned, you became even more of a bastard."

"Your point is?" Angel growled.

"Comin' to it." Spike said, he took out a pack of cigarettes and lighted one up, "Then you became Angelus, why you picked that bloody name I will never know, and you kept being a murderer."

Spike inhaled and exhaled a whiff of smoke.

"My point is that you were scum as a human and scum as a vampire. That's who you are and nothing can change that." Spike said.

"I have a soul." Angel hissed.

"What's the difference?" Spike asked.

"It makes all the difference in the world." Angel said.

"Ahh, that's where you're wrong," Spike said, "the soul doesn't necessarily makes you good."

"It keeps me from being Angelus." Angel snapped.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Spike asked. Angel seemed confused, but he wasn't focused at all. He was trying to find a way to get rid of the young vampire.

"Get what?" Angel asked.

"You are and always will be Angelus." Spike simply stated.

"I'm not Angelus."

"You do remember everything you have done, don't you?" Spike asked.

"Of course I do. Every night."

"Precisely."

"Meaning what?"

"You will always be Angelus. The soul only makes you see things in a different way."

"It makes me good."

"You bloody idiot, being good is not something a soul gives you."

"Now you're the expert."

"You can choose to be good. You always knew that."

"There is nothing good in Angelus."

"You have to believe that, don't you?"

"I'm positive about it."

"You love your soul so much because it keeps you from making that decision."

"What decision?"

"Of being good."

"You're rambling nonsense."
"You know I'm not."

Angel walked out of the office. He really needed something to get Spike out of the hotel. His very life depended on it.

"Run away from it, Angelus." Spike shouted.

"Don't call me that." Angel shouted back.

"It's what you will always be." Spike stated. Angel had had enough and morphed into vampire mode. He stared at Spike and smiled.

"No, Spike, this is what You will always be." Angel said.

"I know." Spike said, "And I like it. Unlike you, I can make my own choices without a soul."

"What?!" Angel asked, enraged.

"Answer me something, Angelus." Spike said, "Why won't you feed from a human?"

"Because it's wrong. It's murder." Angel answered.

"No, you soddin' bastard," Spike shook his head, "what prevents you from doing it?"

"My soul, of course." Angel replied.

"But you could kill one the moment you wanted to, wouldn't you?" Spike asked again.

"You keep talking in riddles, Spike." Angel hissed and morphed back to human mode.

"Look at me, Angelus." Spike said, "I haven't killed a human in over four years. I can control myself."

"Yeah, right." Angel snorted.

"Why do I even bother?" Spike asked himself, and then jumped at Angel. He punched him in the stomach, and round housed him with his right leg. Angel flew a few feet, and at the moment he landed, Spike was already on top of him, beating him with all of his strength. After a few minutes, Spike stood up and admired his work. Angel was literally a bloody pulp.

"I could kill you right now, Angelus," Spike said, cleaning his hands with Angel's shirt, "but I want you to be alive."

Spike finished cleaning his hands and looked around at the hotel.

"I used to be jealous of you. A long time ago. I always thought that you got the best things. You were a kick-ass vampire and you were feared throughout the whole world."

Spike took out another cigarette and he noticed that Angel was barely moving.

"Then you were always the leader of everything we did. Drusilla worshipped you. That always got my knickers in a twist, but I managed to cope with it. Then came that bloody slayer and your hero phase."

Spike kicked Angel on the ribs, making sure that he was still awake. A groan gave him his answer.

"But guess what? I figured everything out when I noticed I could do my own decisions. Life as a vampire gives us options. When we are turned, we still retain the memories of the human, but none of his morals. I was a ponce as a human, but now I'm a monster. You, on the other hand, were a bastard as a human and being a vampire only enhanced that."

Angel moaned and tried to say something, but his shattered mandible didn't give him the chance.

"And I know that you are and always be Angelus. The soul doesn't stop you from being a murderer. It only gives you options. I bet that if you bit a human today, even with your soul, you'd go back to the old days. You are still Angelus, old boy; you can feel it inside you. Even without your soul you knew of the choices you had. You only didn't want to make them."

Spike inhaled and felt the nicotine fill his dead lungs.

"And you won't tell anyone, because then you'd blow your secret. You crave to be Angelus all the time. Your sacrifice for the slayer would be worthless. She wasn't that important for you to make the choice. If you truly loved her, then you wouldn't need your soul."

Spike kneeled in front of Angel and stared at him.

"You know it and I know it. You are Angelus, with or without the soul. You will always be."

Spike threw his cigarette away and stood up.

"I can see that you are alone now and there is nothing in your life. I won't kill you. Live with the knowledge that there is someone out there who knows your secret. Maybe in fifty years I'll get tired of sharing this world with you and kill you. Until then, Angelus."

Spike walked away and out of the Hyperion. He had fixed his problem with his grandsire. After a hundred years, now it was him who walked with his head up and Angelus was the one who'd have to bow down his head.

One down, one to go.

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Angel was conscious about everything that Spike had told him, but the pain was numbing his mind. He rolled over and dragged himself into the office. He left a trail of blood on the path but he had to do one thing.

He yanked the chord and the phone came off the desk, landing in front of Angel's face. He dialed the familiar number and waited for someone to pick up.

A female's voice answered the phone and Angel uttered the only words his mind could form.

"Buffy, help."

End of Chapter.