Previously: Angelus went to Sunnydale and tried to kill Willow, but she imprisoned him in a cage in Buffy's living room. Buffy told him about the return of the First Evil and the SITs; Angelus informed Buffy of Connor's birth and Angel's feelings for Cordelia. Andrew developed a crush on Angelus. Buffy warned the SITs to stay away from Angelus, who wanted to kill them.

Balance 4/?

Following his triumphant arrival with Angel's soul in hand, Wesley became the center of attention. His appreciative audience peppered him with questions and compliments.

Anya's, however, was the most pertinent. "We thought the soul was lost. How did you find it?" she asked.

"I didn't," Wesley replied. "Cordelia did. It seems Angel's son Connor had hidden it in a storage room. He apparently was never able to work past the fact that his father was a vampire, and decided it would be easier to kill him if the soul couldn't be located. He never counted on Angelus getting loose, of course."

"So Cordelia went to get a bottle of Lysol and found a soul instead," said Dawn. "Cool."

"We're in luck," Xander declared. "Willow can reensoul Angel with no problem. She's done it before, and she's way more powerful now than she was then. It'll be just like the last time, right? With the Orb of Thesulah?"

"Not exactly," Willow replied, looking up from where she had been researching in a battered old book. "From what I've figured out, since the method of soul extraction was so different, the way to restore it has also changed. The soul will have to be in very close proximity to Angelus, and I have to perform an incantation plus I'll need special supplies that aren't available in town. I can order them, though, and they should arrive within a day or two."

The cheers that followed this announcement grated on Angelus' nerves. Worse, excited chatter continued for what seemed like forever. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, Buffy. I need to talk to you. Alone," he added pointedly.

The others were still so heartened by Wesley's arrival that they willingly let Buffy shoo them away. Once they were gone, she turned back to Angelus. "So, what is it now?"

"Tell the others you don't want them to reensoul me," he urged. "You can't really want Angel back now, knowing what you do about him and Cordelia."

"That's a matter for him and me to discuss. It has nothing to do with you."

"Think about it, Buffy," he insisted. "Angel manages to regularly lose that soul without too much trouble. And all Spike had to do to get one was to go looking for it. If Angel had ever *really* wanted to get his soul anchored, don't you think he could have made more of an effort? Yet he never did. Food for thought, huh? And if you did bring him back for some reason, his return would unbalance the world even more. You need me, not him. You'll never get rid of the First Evil without my help."

"We'll find another way to win. Your solution can't be the only one."

"Fine." Angelus proceeded to his fallback argument. "If you won't stop the reensouling, then set me free. I know you have the key. I'll leave and go back to Europe. I won't even kill any of your friends on the way."

"Sorry to turn down such a generous offer, but I couldn't do it even if I wanted to. The others would never understand."

"You can't live your life based on whether others will understand your choices. Look at me. I never have. Anyway, it all comes down to the fact that if you don't have me on your side, you'll lose. As simple as that."

Buffy hesitated. Then: "We'll find a way to win," she repeated as she walked away. "We always do."

"Not this time!" Angelus yelled after her.

Buffy glanced over her shoulder but then proceeded on.

Alone, Angelus kicked at the bars of his cage. Now what? Buffy had been his best hope. After her rejection, he was forced to move on. However, coming up with a workable escape plan when one was imprisoned in a cage, surrounded by enemies, was not an easy matter. Frustrated, he glared at the soul-in-the-box across the room and directed his monologue at it. "I hate you. What did I ever do to deserve being the one vampire in the world who just can't get rid of his fucking soul for once and for all? Spike doesn't count. He actually *wanted* his. Should have known spending all that time around Drusilla would drive him crazy, too. If only I could go back in time and forget I ever laid eyes on that loon. Would have saved me a huge amount of trouble." He was just warming up when Willow entered the room.

She eyed him curiously. "Who were you talking to?"

"Never mind."

Willow slowly looked around, stopping when she came to the box on the mantel. "I think I'll just transfer that out of the house to a safer place until I need to use it." As Angelus helplessly watched, Willow carted the soul out of the room, and his reach.

*****

No one went out on patrol that night. They were too busy talking with Wesley and discussing fresh ways of battling the First. At around 3 a.m., though, Buffy called a halt to the racket. "We can get back to work after we've all gotten some sleep."

"An excellent idea," Wesley promptly agreed. "Which bed is mine?"

"Bed?" scoffed Dawn. "I've almost forgotten what one of those is. Quarters are pretty cramped around here. Do you know how many people are staying in this house? We sleep wherever we can find an empty corner."

"That reminds me," said Anya. "Some of the Potentials told me they don't feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as Angelus. We need to find anyone who's willing to be near him tonight."

Andrew's hand shot up. "Me!" All eyes flew to him. He slowly lowered his hand. "I mean, I guess I could do it. I'll sleep with a stake under my pillow, of course."

"Okay, then," Buffy said. "I guess you're in."

In the end, Wesley, Andrew, Buffy, Dawn, and five of the braver Potentials camped out in the living room with Angelus. When he awoke that afternoon, it was to the sight of a fresh bag of human blood lying inside his cage. His special meal plan was proof that Buffy had a soft spot for him, soul or not. From the smell of Spike's food, it was obvious *he* was still stuck with pig's blood.

Angelus slit open the bag with a fang and gulped down his lunch. He felt a new surge of confidence. He'd failed to escape so far, but it was a new day and he wasn't about to quit trying. Who could he most easily convince to help him? His busily working mind settled on Spike.

Sooner or later, everyone had to go through the living room. About a half hour later, it was Spike's turn. He started to walk right past Angelus' cage like it didn't exist.

"Spike!" Angelus called, to no reaction. "Hey! Spike! As your grandsire, I command you to come here!"

Spike didn't even slow down.

"All right, you bastard, just wait until I get free," Angelus threatened. "I'm not Angel, and I don't forgive or forget."

At these words, Spike hesitated before he appeared to shrug them off and leave the room.

Hadn't gotten through to Buffy. Hadn't gotten through to Spike. Most of the others were a lost cause. That didn't leave much choice. Angelus impatiently waited a few hours until Wesley circulated back into the living room.

"Psst!" he hissed, trying to attract Wesley's attention but not that of several nearby SITs. Wesley looked over at him. Angelus nodded.

Cautiously, Wesley approached the cage, hovering a hair out of reach. "What do you want, Angelus?"

"I've been thinking, Wes, so just hear me out. I didn't kill you when I could have and that's got to be worth a favor, right? All I need you to do is to pretend to pull some prophecy out of your ass that says restoring my soul would destroy the world and you shouldn't do it. Come on, give a demon a hand here."

Wesley eyed him coldly. "I'm hardly feeling charitable toward you at the moment. You murdered Connor, your own son."

"Was that really such a horrible thing? Any child of Darla's couldn't be all good."

"You would gladly have killed me if you'd had the opportunity," Wesley pointed out. "I won't help you, Angelus. Ever."

There was no give on that angry face. "Should have eaten you when I had the chance," Angelus snarled.

He had pretty much run out of options when dusk arrived and everyone once more gathered in the living room. Buffy began to deliver another speech, though thankfully this one was not nearly as pompous as her last one had been.

"Okay, everyone, time for patrol. We're going to kick some ass tonight. And since we skipped patrol last night, we have to make up for it now. We'll go out in two shifts. Dawn, Spike, Wesley, Willow, and half of the SITs come with me now, and the other half of the SITs will come when we get back. Xander and Anya, can you two stay in the house this time to keep an eye on things?"

The two agreed, and those who were going out distributed weapons and departed. The leftover Potentials sat around the living room like a huge, useless clump, until one of them stood up.

It was Kennedy. "Right, girls," she said decisively. "We need to get warmed up, so we'll go train in the basement for a while. I'll put you through your paces."

A chorus of groans sounded as the other Potentials pushed themselves up and trailed Kennedy downstairs. Only Anya and Xander remained in the room with Angelus. Anya stared fixedly at the cage. Quite some time passed in this manner.

Continuing to plot, Angelus began to calculate the number of people still in the house. If he could account for all of them and be sure they were out of his way, he might stand a sliver of a chance at escape. He then realized that he couldn't figure out the whereabouts of one particular person. "Where's Giles?" he broke his silence to ask Anya. "I haven't seen him all day."

She shrugged. "Probably off collecting another Potential from some random corner of the globe. He's only around here about half the time lately, but we don't talk about that much."

"Anya! Don't talk to the evil vampire!" Xander scolded.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? It's not exactly entertaining around here."

"I have a few ideas," Xander suggested. "And none of them involve Angelus in any way, shape, or form. You know, we don't need to wait right here the whole time everyone's out."

"When Buffy said to keep an eye on things, she was talking about Angelus."

"Ahn, come on, what kind of trouble can he get into?" Xander whined. "He's sealed in that cage and he doesn't have any hope of escape. I'm sick of sitting here looking at his face when we could be doing something a lot more fun. This house is as empty as it's ever going to get. If we wait, we'll never have any privacy."

"I don't mind."

"Well, you might be okay with the idea of having an audience, but I am not."

At this, Anya gave in. "Fine. If it makes you feel more comfortable."

She and Xander halted their vigil and were headed out of the room when the doorbell rang. Xander cautiously answered and then stepped back from the door with a package in his hand that he made sure to display to Angelus. "It's a delivery for Willow. I bet I can guess what this is." He smiled malevolently. "When she comes back from patrol, guess who's getting his soul back?" With a last nasty look, Xander retreated upstairs with Anya.

It was the moment Angelus had been waiting for, and he immediately set to work testing each of the bars in turn. Surely he could find a weak spot somewhere and gain his freedom that way. Sadly, though, he failed even after trying each bar twice. Much as he despised the thought, he might be doomed to be reensouled. No one would assist him and he couldn't break himself out. He seemed to have run out of options.

He paced the cage, desperately thinking. And then he saw it. Someone was hovering just outside the room, spying on him. The figure shifted and Angelus caught a glimpse of a face. It was meek little Andrew, whose existence he had failed to account for earlier. The thought of using Andrew had never seriously entered his mind before. Now it did, with a vengeance.

Quickly coming up with a makeshift plan, Angelus sighed and lay back in a corner of the cage, doing his best to look unthreatening and depressed. A minute slowly ticked by, and then it happened.

Andrew crept into the room. "Angelus? Are you okay?"

He paused for a long moment before replying. "Not really. It's very frustrating to be confined like this when I could be out there fighting and helping against the First Evil. I'm pretty strong, you know." Angelus deliberately flexed a muscle.

Andrew stared. "Oh, yeah, I can tell."

"If only I could prove to everyone that I can be trusted," Angelus went on mournfully. "All I need is one chance, but no one will give it to me. No one will even try to believe in me."

"I do," Andrew whispered.

"Really? You're the only one. I feel so much better, knowing even one person has faith in me. Unfortunately, that doesn't do much good. I'm still trapped and helpless to prove myself. If only... But no, that's impossible. You would never trust me that much."

An intake of breath followed, before Andrew asked, "What?"

"It's just, well... But that could never happen. How could you ever get me out? I'm sure no one told you where they hid the key to this cage."

"Oh." Andrew shifted, came closer, and stopped again. "Getting the key, you know, that isn't so much of a problem."

"What?" Angelus eagerly sat up, causing Andrew to step back.

"Um, I said, I kind of have my own key. I snuck Buffy's out of her coat pocket and copied it. Just in case."

The situation was better than Angelus could have dreamed. There he was, hoping the nerd might just try to steal the key, and Andrew already had a copy. If he played the situation right, freedom was within his sights. "You're in a position to help me redeem myself, then. That is, if you genuinely care."

"Of course I care!" Andrew blurted, taking a step nearer.

"Then you'll let me out?"

Andrew hesitated. "Well, I don't know if that's such a good idea. Those guys locked you up for a reason."

Wide-eyed, Angelus looked straight at him. "Come on, where do you think I'm going to go? What could I do? I'm in this all as deeply as any of you now. In fact, Anya told me you used to be a prisoner just like me and now you're free and contributing to the cause. We have a lot in common. Besides, with me in here and you out there, it's not so easy getting to know each other better."

Andrew bit his lip indecisively. Then, with trembling fingers, he dug the key out of his pocket and inserted it in the lock. The door swung ajar as he withdrew the key.

Slowly, while making sure to maintain reassuring eye contact with Andrew and to look as calm as possible, Angelus stood and crept out of his prison. Finally he was fully out; free at last. He smiled at Andrew. "Thanks for the assist, moron." With one powerful swipe, he sent Andrew headfirst into the wall and allowed the body to drop to the floor. He hadn't killed the fool, just knocked him unconscious. Andrew was such a nonentity that it was hardly worth the bother of draining him. Besides, Angelus had other targets in mind. He also bypassed Anya and Xander, who were still occupied upstairs (he didn't want to think about what they were doing). Instead, he proceeded toward the basement, where he opened the door and listened from the top of the stairs. The Potentials were deep into a training routine, with Kennedy driving them.

From his sheltered position, Angelus heard her ungodly screech of, "What do you think you're doing, maggot? That's way too slow! Drop and give me 20!"

He grinned around his fangs and leaped down the entire flight of stairs in one bound. Buffy would be angry at first, but once she understood his reasoning and saw the results, she would understand.

The first girl, a broken neck later, never knew what hit her. Maggie, Amber, Emily, and Jessica followed in quick succession. Several of the others tried to run, while a few attempted to put up a fight. None lasted long. Julie died from massive head trauma. Rose was unable to survive after her heart was wrenched out of her body. A girl whose name he'd never bothered to learn was the victim of an extra-hard bite. One by one, Angelus plowed through them all until only Kennedy stood. He had deliberately saved her for last, and she didn't even have the presence of mind to scream.

Her lack of fight was a little disappointing, but killing her would still be tremendously satisfying. Angelus grabbed her and yanked her close, then poised his fangs over her neck. Kennedy hung, paralyzed. Just as he was about to bite down, though, he heard the front door open upstairs and multiple sets of feet enter the house.

Buffy and the others had returned from patrol.

Making a lightning-fast decision, Angelus picked Kennedy up and sprinted up the basement stairs and out the back door, into the night.

TBC

Next time: The First Evil makes an appearance, and Angelus decides what to do with Kennedy.