Summary- Angel loses his soul due to the contract with Wolfram and Hart. Lilah warns Wesley, and he, Fred and Knox escape from Angelus. Gunn has been possessed by the panther in the White Room. Robin Wood is offered a job at Barrington High, near Sunnydale, and the others decide that a new Watcher's Council is needed. Oz is sent to deal with Gunn. They decide that Lindsey may know how to destroy the contracts, and resolve to contact him. Drusilla visits Angelus, and he rejects her. A military group appears, and Buffy blackmails their general into meeting her. Angry and lonely Drusilla finds Connor and takes him to the warlock who originally altered his memories. Spike appears out of a portal intended to produce a Tarok-Han as a human, but exhibits superhuman strength in escaping from the disappointed cultists. The warlock requires an object from Connor's old life, and Drusilla goes to the Hyperion to get it. Buffy meets the general, who tells her that they are trying to create supersoldiers to fight Suvolte Demons (As You Were), who are becoming inexplicably smarter. Riley Finn is dead, and his wife Sam has gone on a vengeance mission against them. She says that someone may be controlling them, and takes him back to Willow. AI follow Drusilla, and try and fail to prevent her from restoring Connor. He runs away, and Drusilla follows him and tells him how Angelus abandoned her. They find themselves in harmony. Spike's reaction to his resurrection is to get very drunk, and is picked up by a Wolfram and Hart lawyer, and taken to see Angelus. Giles comes to LA to ask Wesley to be part of the new Council. He refuses, but tells him what has happened with Angelus and Drusilla. Drusilla has restored Connor's memories, but not their memories of him. Giles calls the new Watcher's Council, and is told that Buffy and Willow have gone to Belize in a helicopter with weapons, spell ingredients and the troll hammer. Lindsey arrives in LA. Connor and Drusilla launch an attack against Wolfram and Hart. Drusilla senses and rescues Spike, and Connor and Angelus fight. He nearly kills Angelus, but in the end Drusilla saves him by throwing Angelus out of the window. He takes his contract and one other thing, after having a conversation with the First. Angelus has the Order of Taraka sent after them both, and tells them to find Sahjhan. Lindsey tells them that the contracts are spells in physical form, and decides to call Gwen to retrieve them. Angelus finds and releases Sahjhan, then convinces him to try to kill Connor. Wesley and Fred go to collect Cordelia from hospital, but find that she has been taken by the thing Drusilla awoke (Connor). Gwen arrives and agrees to help them, and removes LISA. Angelus is contacted by the Order f Taraka, and he tells them to kill all his enemies, not just Dru and Connor, then leaves in a helicopter. In Belize, Buffy, Willow and Sam arrive at the lair of the creature controlling the Suvoltes, where it is sending them away by plane. Willow is telepathically attacked by the creature, and Buffy and Sam attack at once. Professor Walsh intends to find Buffy and Willow's power sources, and tap them. A person called the Master appears in Barrington. Buffy encounters Angelus in Belize. They fight, and he saves the Suvolte controller and flies away. Willow's magic doesn't seem to work on him. A Tarakan assassin attacks the Hyperion, killing the Slayer Giles brought. Spike appears at the Hyperion.
Watcher's Council Headquarters-Night
(The phone rings and Dawn answers)
Dawn: Hello Wa-uh, Summers residence.
Buffy: Dawn we have an emergency. I've-
Dawn: Oh thank God! We've been trying to reach you. Giles called and said-
Buffy: Dawn this is important-
Dawn: So is this listen-
Buffy: Dawn look-
Buffy/Dawn: Angelus is back! Oh.
Buffy: How do you know?
Dawn: Giles called from LA. You?
Buffy: He bit me.
Dawn: God are you okay?
Buffy: The bleeding's stopped already. But the thing with the Suvoltes is out of control.
Dawn: Huh?
Buffy: There was this big telepathic demon with a bunch of tentacles controlling them, and it got away with Angelus.
Dawn: Okay, I'll let the others know.
Buffy: Oh, and you may wanna tell Giles to expect the arrival of big ugly demons. Best way to kill them is to crack their shells.
Dawn: Great. Vampires, killed by stabbing or decapitation, and demons killed by big blunt instruments. They're gonna have to carry around an arsenal. Keep your phone on, we haven't been able to get through to you at all.
Buffy: Dawn, when you're doing commando missions in Central American jungles, the other people do not appreciate your phone going off. I'm coming back now. Be careful.
Warehouse-Night
Connor: Y'know I'm starting to think I was right all along. I mean if he had died then, if Faith hadn't stopped me, it would have been over. Bitch. None of this, the forces gathering. I can feel it. I don't know how, maybe 'cause I am a demon after all. My father always told me I wasn't. He didn't know, said maybe I was granted my strength by God. God! That's a joke. I shouldn't have been born, and the reason I existed is gone. I was meant to bring her forth, to champion her, protect her. Instead I killed her. I killed our daughter, and I did it for you, for my love for you. I never told you, but I do love you. You do know that don't you? (Unsurprisingly, Cordelia doesn't answer.) There's a fairytale, I'm sure you know it. Someone goes to sleep, I can't remember why. But a prince comes along and kisses her, and she wakes up, and they live happily ever after. (He leans over and kisses her, then sits back, watching her intently) Didn't think so.
Hyperion Hotel-Day
(Resume)
Giles: Jesus Christ!
Spike: Nice to see you too.
Oz: Spike
Fred: Who's Spike?
Giles: A vampire Drusilla sired. He's also dead. You must be the First. I thought you had been destroyed.
Spike: (Shuts the door) 'Fraid not. I've just gone human.
Giles: Buffy said you were dead.
Spike: What, you think a little thing like bein' incinerated in Hell is gonna put me down? Came outta some portal. Not sure why.
Wesley: You've become human?
Spike: Yeah.
Wesley: But that doesn't make sense. The prophecy referred to a vampire with a soul.
Spike: An' I got myself one.
Wesley: You got a soul. But… right. So apparently some of the prophecies were about Angel, some were about you.
Spike: Anyway, seems to me you need a safer place than this. I happen to have one available.
Giles: You do realize we don't entirely trust you.
Spike: Fine then, you can bloody well stay here an' be assassinated for all I care. I just came to get away from Dru for a little while. I mean, there's only a certain amount of time a man can listen to her without his head startin to bloody hurt. Reminds me of back when I had the chip in my head.
Giles: Drusilla? Your safe place is the lair of an insane vampire?
Spike: I wouldn't worry about her. She's gone a bit soft if you ask me. An' even softer than normal in the head. All that stuff about her little brother and not hurting her new family.
Wesley: Alright, lead the way.
Most of the room: WHAT?
Wesley: He has a soul. In fact, he's human, which would suggest that he has shanshued, and therefore played a major part in an apocalypse. Giles, I assume he fought on your side?
Giles: Well yes, but-
Wesley: This place obviously isn't safe. We have one dead, and if he had been bright enough to bring a silver weapon it would be two. We have to find a safe place, and he suggests one. We can worry about the morals of working with vampires afterwards. Wait if you're human, why are they helping you? I would have though Drusilla would at least sire you.
Spike: She wanted to, an' I would've let her, but this damn thing I can't seem to get off my neck won't let 'er.
Giles: That's the amulet Angel gave us.
Spike: Yeah, well Peaches is sort of what this is all about. Dru's pissed at him cause when she showed up he tried to have 'er killed.
Wesley: Angelus attempted to kill her? Why?
Spike: Far as I know, cause he was bloody sick of having to put up with her.
Lindsey: That's understandable.
Spike: What' the Hell d' you think you're doing talkin about her like that?
Lindsey: Well, she turned the woman I loved into a vampire, I think I sort of have a right to.
Spike: Really? Dru made a vampire? She hardly ever does that. What was 'er name?
Lindsey: Why do you care?
Spike: Well, she's not the type to just leave someone she sired on the ground. I should know. Thought I might have heard about her.
Lindsey: Her name was Darla.
Spike: No, I think you've got it wrong mate-
Lorne: Let's all have a drink shall we? Who wants Sea Breeze?
Lindsey: We brought her back as a human. She was dying of syphilis. Drusilla sired her.
Spike: Bloody Hell. What happened to her?
Lindsey: She slept with Angel, then left. I don't know what happened to her after that.
Fred: Oh, well she- (Fred, Wesley and Lorne look confused for a moment) –came back and Angel killed her.
Gwen: What happened there?
Wesley: What are you talking about?
Gwen: The way you all simultaneously went blank there.
Wesley: I have no idea what you're talking about.
Spike: Oh not again. I remember last time somethin' like this happened. Spent about ten minutes explainin' the situation, then they forgot all about it. Just ignore it. Maybe it'll wear off once the contracts are gone.
Wesley: How do you know about the contracts?
Spike: I made one of her minions tell mean. Mind you, he wasn't keen to tell a human anything, but I managed to convince him.
Wesley: Fine. Unless anyone else has a better idea?
Lorne: You're the boss.
Angel's Office-Day
Angelus: You should have been there. The look in her eyes when I bit her. I bit her! Granted, I nearly lost an eye, but that's nothing. I beat her, and she knows that. Do you understand what a difference this makes?
Gunn: It changes the conditions of your conflict so that from being an essentially a subordinate entity attempting to overcome those greater than it to you being in a dominant position of personal physical ability. This will cause the Slayer psychological damage likely leading to impaired ability in melee, giving you a great advantage in your inevitable confrontation at the culmination of our plans.
Angelus: Do you have to talk like that? I don't want to have to call in a translator for every sentence.
Gunn: The Senior Partners are in two minds about you. On the one hand it is admitted that you are a formidable ally. On the other, your own obsessions and eccentricities can impede your ability to carry out our plans. You would do well not to test our limits. Especially since you have recently allowed a number of events which should not have taken place to occur, eg. the escape of William Leigh, the arrival of my intended adversary, and allowing your son to cause devastation to the building that it has not known since the Beast.
Angelus: Oooh, the worst devastation you have suffered in under a year. Shocking. I've dealt with every situation which you've given me any warning for. I you wanted someone prescient you should have asked Drusilla to lead your forces against the Slayer.
Gunn: The sword we gave you should have enabled you to kill the Slayer then, not give her a superficial neck wound.
Angelus: The protection spell you gave me should also have stopped her little witch friend's spells from working on me.
Gunn: The spell did exactly as you were informed.
Angelus: Slight loophole there in that she can still affect things around me. Good thing she didn't thing of setting my clothes on fire or I wouldn't be here now.
Gunn: It was a mistake to release Sahjhan. He is unpredictable.
Angelus: No, you can't predict him. There's a difference. I have the situation under control.
Gunn: The Slayers have been informed of your return, the Destroyer is free, Lindsey MacDonald will have told them how the contracts can be destroyed, and so far all you have managed to accomplish is the death of one solitary half-trained Slayer. It would appear that your definition of "under control" has substantial variations from ours.
Angelus: Look, you pathetic excuse for an emissary, it doesn't matter if they know, they can't do anything about it. Or haven't you seen what I have accomplished? My army stands waiting, and this time Spike won't come along with his magic amulet.
Gunn: The amulet which is still in his possession.
Angelus: The amulet which has been drained of all but its most basic powers. Get out of my office, and send in the next contestant.
Gunn: You had better strike a blow soon, Liam, or we will find another champion.
Okay, have I done something so horrible that nobody is reading this anymore? The last two chapters haven't been reviewed at all. If there's something bad, please tell me and I'll fix it, but I can't bear this void where any reviews should be. Please!
