Balance 1/?
A few hours later, Angelus lurked in the bushes across the street from Buffy's house and looked on in fascination. Things had certainly changed in Sunnydale.
He examined the crowd of people on Buffy's lawn. He saw Buffy herself, of course, plus her do-gooder friends, Spike, an unfamiliar young man, and a pack of teenage girls. All looked armed for patrol. He began to count the number of girls but lost interest after reaching 12. The amount seemed neverending, possibly because the girls all wore one of two expressions: foolhardy bravado or deep apprehension. Angelus wouldn't have wanted any of them at his back in a fight.
He continued to watch as they walked away down the street in one huge clump. He'd identified Buffy, Spike, Giles, Xander, Anya, and Dawn. That left Willow and Tara unaccounted for. Until Angelus picked up on the sole heartbeat coming from inside Buffy's house.
After making sure his enemies were out of sight, he crept closer to the building. He couldn't sense Tara, but Willow's presence was strong. That was good. In fact, it was ideal.
He would begin the game by leaving her dead body for Buffy to find.
*****
Angelus tested the front door of Buffy's house. It was unlocked. He eased it open and slid inside. As he'd expected, no one had ever revoked Angel's invitation. He took a moment to orient himself, then headed into the living room to find Willow seated at a cluttered desk.
He hovered for several seconds before she looked up and noticed him. "Angel. Hi."
"Close, but not quite right. I can see where you might make that mistake, though. We do look a lot alike." He waited for the realization of his true identity to strike her. He wanted Willow to know who he really was. The more fear on her part, the more fun on his.
"Angelus," she said in a tone that was more statement than question. She slowly stood, but she had nowhere to run.
"Willow," he responded. "It's good to see you again, especially like this. All alone. Unprotected. Without even Tara around. What a pity."
"Tara died last year," she replied.
"Oh. Too bad. I mean, too bad I didn't get to kill her. You, on the other hand..." He edged nearer.
"That's close enough," Willow informed him.
"I don't think so. How can I bite you or break your pathetic little neck if I'm here and you're way over there?" Angelus took another step.
He was doomed to go no farther. Willow raised her hands, her eyes turning pitch-black, and rattled off an incantation that resulted in an unseen force flinging him back against the wall, where he stuck like a bug that had been pinned. Iron bars seemed to grow out of the floor around him, neatly sealing him into a prison in the middle of the Summers' living room. Once the cage was complete, forming a solid square around Angelus, he found himself able to move again. He gingerly pushed away from the wall, testing his limbs, and eyed Willow through the bars with a new measure of respect. She had done a thorough job; the metal ceiling and floor added that special touch, ensuring that he couldn't punch his way through either to freedom. He felt the bars of the cage as he addressed Willow. "You've been working out since the last time we saw each other. That was quite a display of power there. I had no idea you'd advanced so far."
"Oh, I have powers I haven't even begun to tap into yet, Angelus. But don't feel too bad about getting captured so easily. You never stood a chance."
He studied Willow. She'd seemed pretty damn prepared for his arrival. "I take it you knew about me in advance and had time to set a trap."
"Yeah. Phone call from Wesley. He didn't have much time to talk but he did fill us in on the basics. He said the gang had to bring you back, then you escaped, and we should watch out just in case you decided to come here instead of staying in Los Angeles."
"He finally remembered what a telephone is for, huh? And here I was, thinking he wouldn't have the balls to crawl out of that box till dawn, at least. What timing."
Willow nodded. "It worked for us, anyway. Speaking of which..." She picked up a cell phone from the desk and calmly placed a call. "Hey, it's over. Come on back." She took her time replacing the phone before she turned back to Angelus.
He momentarily gave up on trying to find a weakness in his prison and settled back to dig for information. "I'm hurt that Buffy isn't here to greet me. Doesn't she care anymore?"
"She made a judgement call. Don't worry. She'll be back in a minute or so. And so far only she, Giles, and I know the truth about you. We didn't want the others to get involved until you were locked up. I knew I could handle you alone, and if they interfered they would just have gotten in the way."
"You didn't tell Xander?"
"He probably would have insisted on staying or sneaking back to try to help," Willow pointed out. "Not worth the risk. He'll find out about you soon enough anyway."
"Hmm." Angelus looked around the room. It was crowded with blankets, pillows, books, and papers and most resembled a library/bedroom. Some seriously weird shit was definitely going on. "Don't suppose you'd care to give me any more details about what's up around here?"
"Nope. I'll leave it up to Buffy to decide what you should know."
With a frustrated growl, Angelus turned away. His night had taken a significant turn for the worse. Somehow, he'd found himself stuck in another goddamn cage at the mercy of hated humans who wanted to stuff his soul back into him. It really wasn't fair. He spent the next few minutes running various escape plans through his head before he picked up on the noises of a large group of people approaching. Buffy and her pals had returned.
He heard Xander's voice before he saw him. "Hey, Will, we're back. What's up?" Xander stepped into the room, spotted Angelus, and stopped dead in his tracks, causing a pileup behind him. "Angel in a cage in the living room? Life can't get any worse than this."
"Um, Xander, that's Angelus," Willow informed him.
"I was wrong," Xander corrected himself. "Life *can* get worse."
Buffy shoved past him, with Spike and the other Scoobies at her heels. "Everyone inside and I'll fill you in."
Angelus could only watch as girl after girl after girl filed in. Either Buffy was operating an illegal boarding house out of her home, or something even screwier was going on. Willow took Spike, Xander, Anya, Dawn, and the nerdy-looking young guy aside to briefly explain the situation, while Buffy strode up to the cage to confront Angelus.
He got in the first question. "What's going on here? You running a school, Buff? Some sort of orphanage?"
Giles looked at Buffy. "We may as well tell him the truth up front. If he's staying here for any length of time, we won't be able to keep the situation secret."
Buffy nodded. "You're right. Okay, Angelus, these girls are all potential Slayers. We call them Potentials, or Slayers-in-Training, or just plain SITs. They're gathered here because the First Evil is back and is trying to eliminate all of them. Not to mention the rest of us and pretty much anything else that is good in the world."
Angelus studied the girls. "They're potential Slayers? Really? I never would have guessed. The sensation of power radiating off of them is absolutely stunning by its very lack."
One of the girls, a brunette who was holding Willow's hand, sneered at him. "Pretty high and mighty, aren't you? Well, who's locked up and who isn't?"
"Willow got me, and that's an honor. I'm sure she'd have no problem wiping the floor with the lot of you combined. If you were her enemies instead of her little buddies, you'd be in my position or worse right now. Probably worse."
"Who *is* he?" one of the Potentials questioned.
"A vampire," Dawn told her.
"Why don't you just stake him?" the other girl pressed.
"I'll explain later," Buffy interjected. "Please, all of you girls, go in the basement now."
"Even me?" the brunette demanded.
"Please, Kennedy," Willow requested, and her scowling friend slowly obeyed.
"You too, Andrew," Buffy instructed.
With one last wide-eyed glance at Angelus, the nerd scuttled after the girls, who mostly just looked like a herd of confused sheep as they straggled away.
Angelus regarded his remaining opponents and noticed something strange. Spike was hovering around Buffy, acting like a puppy desperate for a treat. More surprisingly, and suspiciously, Buffy was allowing him to do it. "Don't tell me Spike has been accepted into your little gang as an equal. What is wrong with this picture?"
"Spike has changed," Buffy recited. "He has a soul, and *he* wasn't cursed with his. He actually went out and got it on his own. He's become a valued member of the team."
"Plus, Buffy had sex with soulless Spike most of last year," Anya added matter-of-factly.
Angelus looked at Buffy through new eyes. "Wow, Buff, I'm impressed. You really went slumming."
Spike growled and took a step forward.
"Oh, come off it," Angelus taunted. "You're the little house pet now. You can't do anything to hurt me or it'll just torture your miserable soul even more. Guess I'm safe, huh? Oh, don't tell me poor Spikey is gonna cry." Things were really looking up. It seemed he would be able to have fun despite being locked up. At the very thought of Spike's condition, he began to laugh.
"What's so humorous?" snapped Giles.
"That bit about Spike having a soul is even funnier than Cordelia telling me she gives a better ride than a Mustang, and I didn't think anything could ever top that one."
"Cordelia said that to you?" Xander said with a frown. "Why would she do that?"
"Oh, that's right. You guys are behind the times. Buff, you ever wonder what Angel was doing with all his free time over there in Los Angeles? I mean, since he rarely bothered to pick up the phone even to say 'hi.'"
"He didn't have much free time," Buffy insisted. "He was too busy making the city safe. Los Angeles is a big place."
"You actually believe that bullshit? Of course, you *have* been kept out of the loop, for reasons that will soon become obvious. Well, pull up a cushion and settle down, and I'll tell you a story that'll make your hair curl. The truth hurts like a bitch." Angelus waited expectantly.
Buffy tried to act nonchalant, but he could sense she was dying to hear his words. Finally she gave in and nodded. "You have 30 seconds. Make it quick."
Giles, Anya, Xander, Buffy, Willow, Spike, and Dawn promptly settled in around the room. Angelus took a moment to gaze at his rapt audience and heighten the tension. Though they were trying to hide it, some better than others, he could tell they were burning with curiosity. Seeing that he was just as eager to let them in on the truth, he didn't hold out for long. "The real story started a few years ago, when an evil law firm brought Darla back to life as a human. Dru turned her, then Angel went through a dark period and screwed Darla in the vain hope of losing his soul. Said coupling resulted in the first and so far only vampire pregnancy on record before Darla committed suicide so her apparently human son Connor could be born. Then an old enemy kidnapped Connor and carted him into a hell dimension. When he returned several weeks later, he was a teenager with a vendetta against his vampire father and he stuck Angel in a box in the ocean for summer vacation. After that--"
"Wait," Xander interrupted. "I need to write all of this down."
Angelus looked at Buffy. "I was just getting warmed up. That interruption doesn't count against my 30 seconds, does it?"
She waved an impatient hand. "Go on."
He did so. "Don't laugh, but Cordelia became a higher being before returning to this plane. Angel decided Cordelia was the new love of his life--I still can't figure out why--and the feeling seemed mutual, but then the world went to hell, and Cordy fucked Connor, and the gang brought me back, and --"
Buffy lurched to her feet, looking ill. "That's it. Time's up."
"But there's more."
"I think I've heard enough for now." With that, Buffy nearly ran from the room, with Spike and Giles pursuing her.
Their departures left Willow, Dawn, Anya, and Xander, who marched right up to Angelus' cage.
"Was that story really true?" Anya snapped.
"Every sorry word of it."
Xander shook his head. "Nope. I don't buy it. You laid it on way too thick. I mean, Cordelia as a higher being? Who in their right mind would believe a lie like that?"
"Cordelia has grown greatly as a person since she moved to Los Angeles. She is no longer merely a self-serving, shallow bitch. She has expanded her mind and become a champion, a protector of justice who puts others first. She... aw, hell, you're right. It *is* unbelievable. But it's still true."
"Even if that part really happened, where's your miracle child?" Xander pressed.
"Oh, he's dead."
"Dead? How did that happen?" Willow asked.
Angelus immediately realized that mentioning Connor's demise might have been a tactical error, but since the topic had arisen, blunt honesty *was* one of his fortes. "I kind of accidentally on purpose beat him to death right before I came to Sunnydale."
The four gaped at him in slack-jawed horror. "You murdered your own son?" Dawn cried.
"He completely deserved it," Angelus defended himself. "If you'd ever met the prick, you'd understand why."
Judging by their reaction, they had no interest in understanding. As a group, they scowled and then stalked away, making their disgust and disapproval blatantly clear. Like Angelus cared. As long as he could play mind games with them, he would be satisfied. He could hardly wait until Buffy confirmed his version of the events in Los Angeles.
*****
No, Angelus won't remain in that cage forever, but for the time being he has to be there.
Next part: Buffy wants answers about Angel and Cordelia; Buffy introduces the SITs to Angelus.