Disclaimer- The only character I own here is Rowan herself; the rest I borrow.

Summary- This takes place before Cordelia becomes part demon and before Connor is born.

Chapter Thirteen

The Devil Is In The Details
A few hours later, thanks to Wesley's attentive help and a call to a local pizza place, Rowan was contently full and in her workroom practicing the incantation for her Gram's spell. A knock on the door, muffled by the magik barriers, caused her to stumble on a difficult pronunciation. Cursing under her breath and her tone reflecting annoyance, she asked who it was without rising.
"Angel." Angel's substantial form filled the doorway, duster billowing and arms crossed. "That Sight of yours is pretty damn accurate, even if you don't realize that you're using it. After twenty bucks, and a few minutes of pummeling, Merle spilled about some serious drugs catered to demon physiology that have recently turned up." Shifting position to lean against the frame, Angle continued. "The real question isn't what drugs are out there. It's- what is Wolfram and Hart doing involved with such penny- ante shit like drug running? Apocalypse is really more their style."
Rowan mentally multi-tasked, continuing to run through the spell in the back of her mind, even as she began a conversation with Angel. It was one of the talents that made her an excellent witch. Ignoring his comments about Wolfram and Hart, she went straight to the topic of the night's magik. "I'm glad your back. We both have preparations we need to make for this spell."
Angel nodded, and licked his bottom lip. "Tell me what I need to do."
"I wrote directions down for you and got the things you'd need together. They're here on the nightstand. Read them and then I'll go over them with you." Rowan closed her eyes and returned to her incantation again, allowing Angel time to read the notes through.
Angel cleared his throat, still leaning on the doorframe. "I'd love to, but. Can I come in?"
Rowan mentally cringed. "I forgot the barriers would require an invitation. Sorry!" she apologized, opening her eyes and turning her full attention back on him. Rising with a flourish of her arms, Rowan extended the invitation. "Come in, Angel."
Angel crossed the threshold quickly and picked up his directions. Reading them over, he stated, "These seem pretty normal for a ritual cleansing."
"That's not all, Angel." Rowan started, crossing her arms and determination dark in her eyes.
Angel's response was to stare back at her with dead eyes. Their final interaction last night, and its implied ramifications, hung heavy in the air between them. Rowan broke the silent staring contest. "There's more to this spell than just a physical cleansing."
Angel rolled his eyes. "I don't think I want to have this conversation right now," he mumbled and turned towards the door.
Rowan put her hand on his arm and forcibly slowed his progress down. "Oh, no, mister. We need to talk, NOW. I won't do this spell unless we clear the air."
Angel turned back to face her with a half-smile, but it never made it to his eyes. "But there's nothing we need to talk about."
Rowan slipped easily to the floor and unsuccessfully tried to pull him down beside her. "Bullshit."
Angel gave up the attempt at smiling. "There's no way to settle it. You said so yourself. I need figure out if I want to feel or if I want to shut myself off from the glorious pleasures of human contact." He shoved his hands, written directions and all, into the pockets of his stylish black trousers.
Rowan grew concerned at his flippant tone. "You need to be serious. This spell requires soul-to-soul contact, Angel. I need to know that you are settled before we do this."
Angel frowned, creases deepening at the corners of his mouth. He pulled the directions back out to look them over again. "What do you mean, soul-to-soul contact?"
"It's a lot like handing off a football." Rowan sighed when the light bulb failed to go off over Angel's head. He needed more of an explanation. "The spell I am using is one that my Grandmother had played around with years before my mother was turned; it was originally meant to help you keep your soul but undo the Romani curse. Gram amended it and used it as a basis for my mother's Restoration spell." Rowan watched the concern flicker across Angel's dark eyes. "We are going to link souls, so that you can get into Wolfram and Hart without them realizing that you are there. So that you won't set off the vampire alarms."
Angel rubbed his thumb back and forth over the purification directions in his right hand as he considered her plan, seemingly mesmerized by the movement of his digits. "How exactly is this going to work? My physical body is what sets the alarms off. How can your soul make me a non-vampire?"
"No, it is not the physical body that sets the alarms off." Rowan shifted her position, stretching leg muscles that ached from too much time sitting on the floor over the course of the day. "It's the presence of the demon within you."
"And just how are you going to remove the demon inside of me?" Angel asked, curiosity evident in his tone. "I'm going to use several different methods combined, but essentially it's going to be what you did with Ephygon." "What?!" Alarm rang loudly in Angel's voice. "Trap my demon in your body?"
She had realized that this could be the most difficult part of the whole plan, to convince Angel to allow her to place her self in a position of risk in order to help him. But she still had not been able to fathom his exact response. "Not exactly. Your soul has kept the demon bound; you will pass the demon over to my soul. My force of will- not my physical self- will trap your demon in an Orb of Thesalla. I will function as a living link between you and the Orb. You will have access to the physical strength of the demon when- if- you need it, through me. If you don't need access, I will simply function like a live electrified fence, keeping the demon under control until I return it to you."
"You can remove the demon and contain it? For how long?" Angel's interest in the spell waged war with his worry.
Rowan smiled crookedly. "Well, I'm a damn fine witch, but even I can't hold the demon back indefinitely. The spell's never been done before, so I'm not sure exactly how long it will be."
Angel inhaled unnecessarily. "And what will happen to you if you have to contain it for too long?"
Rowan was a little worried about this her self, but showed none of her inner turmoil. She simply trusted that her Gram would never construct a faulty spell. "The demon will take me over. I won't be a true vampire- no need for the blood, and I won't burst into flames in sun- but I WILL be a pretty nasty person until someone else can perform the rest of the spell and return Angelus to you."
"But it would be reversible if that happened?" Angel pushed for more detail.
Rowan tiredly nodded, massaging her still-sore leg. "Yes, it would be reversible- at least for me. Our blood relation gives me more protection against the demon than someone else would have."
Angel considered for a minute. "What would happen to you if I died?"
Rowan squirmed uncomfortably and avoiding looking directly at him. "Let's just say, don't die."
Angel, hand cradling her chin, forced her to face him. Looking closely at her, he studied her face for a few moments before speaking. His voice was level, and lower in tone than usual. Rowan felt a compulsion to answer his next question honestly. "Let's just say I do. What happens to you?"
Rowan broke his gaze with some effort and stared at the flame of a lit candle just beyond Angel's shoulder. "Um, it won't be pretty."
Angel grasped her chin and pulled her eyes back to his again. "Just how 'not pretty' are we talking?"
Rowan swallowed nervously, trying to cover her emotion with some gallows humor. "Well, I'm not positive, but I think I'll probably go insane and become a serial killer. But that's only until the police catch me and execute me."
Angel looked at her questioningly. "If I die, there's no way for you to get rid of the demon?"
Rowan grimaced. "No."
Angel shook his head negatively. "I can't put you at risk like that."
Rowan snorted. "You don't get to make decisions like that for me. I am an adult witch who makes her own decisions."
Angel shook his head again. "This isn't important enough to justify such a big risk. There are other ways to get information."
It was Rowan's turn to shake her head. "I Know that this is important to do as soon as possible. I don't know why for sure- the demon-drugs may only be a small part of a much bigger disaster planned by Wolfram and Hart. But I have a feeling that we have to do this." Angel just had to listen to her Sight. "Why else did the Powers That Be tell you to trust me?"
Angel was not at all happy, but even he realized that he was outnumbered, metaphorically speaking. "What is so damn important in that building that the PTB feel I have to get in there?"
Rowan looked straight at him. "That's the part that scares me."
Angel agreed. "I'll go do a little more.research.before the time to start the ritual. See if I can get an idea."
Rowan placed her hand on his arm as he began to rise. "Angel- I still need to know, before the ritual."
Angel shook his head negatively and continued up and out of the room. "I'll let you know later. I want to go kill something right now."
Rowan relaxed slightly, now that the initial confrontation with Angel over. But tension over the inevitable, second confrontation remained. Rowan wondered when Angel would start to think through the ramifications of soul- to-soul contact. The elusive vampire, so distant from everybody, would have to open up to her in a way he never had with anyone before- including Buffy.