WARNING: Okay, I've decided that this one is going to get angsty. Really angsty. It won't happen for a while, but it is going to happen. There might even be character death. So, if youÕre not up for that sort of thing, you might want to get out now

NOTE: For the purposes of this fic, the Faith storyline from season 1 never happened.

"Thank you again for coming, Willow."

"Sure thing, Angel."

Angel and Willow sat on the floor in the middle of the Hyperion Lobby. A circle of black sand surrounded them. There was a small clay bowl between them, along with a few bunches of herbs.

"You're sure this is going to work?" Angel asked, a tad nervously.

"Theoretically."

Angel raised his eyebrows, "Care to elaborate on that?"

"Well, theoretically, the spell will temporarily make your skin feel warm to the touch, and will give you a reflection." Willow bit her lip and looked at the floor. "But, there is a slight chance it could make you go *poof*."

"Poof?!"

"You know, poof, all dusty like."

Angel shot to his feet. "You didn't say anything about this before. I think I would remember if you had mentioned on the phone that there was a chance that this might kill me."

Willow rolled her eyes. "Angel, please sit down. It's a very small chance. I'm much better at magic than I use to be. I've just never done this particular spell before, and if I do it incorrectly, it could...."

"Make me go poof?"

"Yeah," Willow shrugged. "But that's not going to happen, so sit your broody self down, and let me make you a little less vampirey."

"All right. If you're really that confident." Angel lowered himself to the floor. "But if you dust me, you're going to have to deal with a really pissed off Cordelia," he added with a wry smile.

"Okay. Let's get started"

*Meanwhile*

"Cordelia, you do realize that you're only going to be gone for a few days, right?" Wesley stood by Cordelia's bed staring at the growing pile of clothes she threw in her suitcase.

Cordelia turned to face Wesley, her hands on her hips. "Listen, Mister, a girl has to be prepared for all occasions. Who knows where all Angel and I are going to have to go while we're in DC. Besides, it's just the one suitcase and then my dress." Cordelia nodded toward the evening gown that hung on the back of her bedroom door.

"At least something good came out of the vision. I got to go dress shopping with Angel's credit card."

"Yes, yes. It's a pity you don't have visions of important people dying more often."

Cordelia narrowed her eyes. "Wes, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Angel wanted me to make sure you didn't pack too much. I guess he was a little over-confident in my abilities"

"So, just to double check, everything is arranged?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes. He's on the guest list as Angel O'Conner. You'll be going as his date. Thanks to Willow, Angel got through the background check. According to what the Council set up, Angel is a large, formerly anonymous contributor to the Democratic party, which is how he got on the invite list."

"You know," Cordelia mused, "it's really kind of frightening that the Watcher's Council was able to do all this. I mean, they have there fingers in just about everything, don't they."

"I'm just thankful that they were willing to help us out. It took quite a bit of convincing to get them to agree. They were hardly thrilled to help out a fired watcher and a vampire. Luckily Giles and I still have some friends there."

Wesley sighed and sat on the edge of Cordelia's beg. "I'm still not entirely sure how good of an idea this is. I mean, you and Angel in the White House....I fear it could lead to a lot of trouble."

"God, Wesley, worry much?" Cordelia shut her suitcase and flashed her friend a smile. "Relax, everything is going to work out just fine."

TBC