CHAPTER EIGHT: RESTORATION

"Have you all lost your mind?  You're going to use black magic to restore my soul?  People, this never goes well.  Am I the only one paying attention?" Angelus asked.

Buffy was agreeing with Angelus with this.  She'd seen the effects of black magic, and she had no desire to see anything like that ever again.  This was dangerous ground that they were walking on.

"He has a point," Buffy said quietly.

Cordelia gave her a look that clearly told Buffy that the half-demon seer didn't value Buffy's opinion at all.  Buffy just sighed and hoped that someone from the AI team spoke up about the extreme badness of using the darker arts for this.

"The Powers wouldn't have given me the vision if they didn't want us using the spell," Cordelia rationalised.

Buffy sighed.  She couldn't refute that. 

The team set about placing the spell in position.  Buffy just watched nervously, really not wanting them to do this.  She had a gut-wrenchingly bad feeling about this, and she didn't want to see the hotel blown to smithereens because of black magic.

"Let's be realistic.  Even if your precious champion makes another guest appearance, you can't stop the apocalypse.  Bottom line is you're going to lose.  The last thing you smell will be each other's blood," Angelus said.

"That's your opinion," Fred retorted.

"You tell him, honey," Lilah said with sarcastic enthusiasm.

Fred turned and glared at the lawyer who just looked back without a care in the world.  Buffy couldn't understand what the lawyer's deal was.  She didn't seem to be too worried about anything at all.  And Buffy still had yet to work out which team Lilah was truly playing for.  Buffy had to wonder if Lilah even knew the answer to that question.

"Hell, even Angel knew you never stood a chance.  You want to know why he really let me out?" Angelus asked rhetorically.  "Because he finally gave up.  He knew you were all too weak and selfish to stop what's coming.  He gave up his soul because he gave up on you."

"You're right.  Buh-bye," Cordelia said, flicking her wrist in Angelus' direction, sending him flying into the wall at the back of the cage.

Wesley began the spell, chanting in Latin as everyone standing in around the circle they'd set up held their talismans in front of them as protective barriers to keep Angel's soul from trying to inhabit any of them.

"In degera…"

"Don't kid yourselves…" Angelus began, trying to stand up.

"Fortis murus…"

"I'll still be around long after your corpses rot."

"Kesta sartuum…" The building began shaking, causing everyone to look around nervously.  Of course, they had to be on the bottom level of a twelve storey building doing black magics.  "Mundi ethericon…"

"I promise you. This isn't…"

"Chimera nihilo."

"The end."

Smoke rose from the circle that the AI team were surrounding.  They held their talismans in front of them as the smoke tried to come near them.  The smoke circled back and crept through the bars of the cage, Angelus looking panicked as it circled around him.  He was lifted from the ground, screaming in pain.  Inside the magical circle, the skull that Connor and Gunn had earlier fought to retrieve lifted from the ground and fell suddenly, shattering.  The smoke disappeared and Angelus fell to the ground.

The group all looked at each other before taking a step towards the cage, careful to stay behind the red line.

"Angel?" Cordelia asked quietly.

The vampire looked up at the group, his eyes pain filled.  Buffy looked at him closely, trying to feel Angel in the body lying before them.  She couldn't feel him as yet, but she waited for a moment knowing that sometimes spells could take a while before completely settling in.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"It worked!" Lorne exclaimed happily.

"Did it?" Connor asked suspiciously.

Buffy was thankful that there was at least someone in the group sensible enough to ask that question.  Of course, what she had seen from Connor and Angel – or Angelus' – interaction over the last day or so, she didn't think they had the kind and loving relationship that Buffy knew Angel wanted with his son.

"Fred," he whispered quietly, looking at the quiet girl who stood closely beside Gunn.  "You came down the stairs.  You had blood, and I grabbed you."

"I'm fine," Fred assured him.

"The spell, it worked.  I feel it," Cordelia said.

Buffy scowled at the girls back.  For one blind second of panic, Buffy wondered if Cordelia truly did feel the effects of the spell.  What would that mean?  Was Cordelia now Angel's soulmate?  Buffy didn't know what she would do if that was the truth.  She knew that she and Angel could never be together, unless of course Angel was granted his Shanshu, another thing that Buffy had heard by the demonic grapevine.  But if Buffy couldn't feel Angel's soul, she didn't know if she'd be able to cope.

She felt empty without that little tingle that had settled in her stomach for the last seven years.  She didn't think she'd ever be able to get used to not having that little whispering voice inside the back of her head that let her know that Angel was still alive and well.

"We have to be sure," Wesley said firmly.

"Get Lorne to read him," Gunn suggested.

"Angel, are you aware of what's happened?" Wesley asked.

The vampire stood up, a little shakily. He looked at the AI team, still looking slightly confused.

"I'm back. There's, uh, something else. Something worse - worse than the-"

"The Beast, yes," Wesley interrupted him.  "And we need your help to fight it, but first you have to sing for Lorne."

"I, uh…"

"To prove it's really you," Wesley explained.

"Oh, right," he replied.  He cleared his throat and thought of a song.  "Raindrops keep falling on my head…do do do do…Just…"

"Oh yes.  Yes!  Sweet fancy B.J. Thomas, it's him.  It's Angel!" Lorne exclaimed.

"You sure?" Gunn asked.

Buffy was really starting to panic now. She still couldn't feel him.  She'd heard about Lorne being anagogic, and if he was reading Angel's soul, then it must have meant that it truly was Angel.  She was still sceptical however.

"Yes, yes!  The aura has totally changed, and the vibe screams soul!  Ha ha!  Oh, bless you and your beautiful land line to the PTB, honey!" Lorne exclaimed with excitement.  He swept Cordelia up into a hug.

"He's back," Connor said, his voice soft.  He wasn't happy about it.

Buffy stood up.  She had to know for certain.  And there was only one thing that she could think of to get Angelus to show his true face.  She stepped towards the cage and stood a good two inches behind the red line.  She met his eyes and had trouble knowing whether or not he was Angel or Angelus. 

She took a deep breath and prepared herself to tell him the only thing she could think of to get Angel to show his true colours.

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Short chapter I know.  But…co I'm feeling all nice today (or evil, it really depends on your POV I suppose…here's a SNEAK PREVIEW:

"It's really you, right?" Buffy asked.

He nodded, keeping direct eye contact with him.

"Then you should know something," Buffy said.  She dropped her voice to a whisper that only the vampire and Connor would have been able to hear.  "I fucked Spike last year."

Well…you can mull on that one for a while.  Enjoy!

K.