Chapter 42
"Then we're all agreed." Angel said, glancing down at Buffy.
"Yeah, we're all one big happy Manson family." Spike said.
"We taking 'em all at once?" Gunn asked.
Angel shook his head. "Can't. Circle of the Black Thorn is the most powerful group in this plane of existence. Together, they'd vaporize us, but separated, they're just demons."
Buffy stood a little taller despite her anxiety. "When do we make our move?"
Angel squeezed her shaking hand. "Soon. In the meantime, we have to keep up the infighting. The circle needs to believe we're coming apart at the seams." He looked down at Buffy. "Except for you. They think you're in on this now and you are. Can you handle it?"
"As long as I don't have to kill anybody, I'm game."
"What about Illyria?" Gunn asked.
"What about her?" Angel asked.
"Move like this, wouldn't hate having Blue Thunder in our corner."
"Can't trust she'll come down on our side."
"Trust me, she's housebroken." Lorne said. "She was babysitting Drogyn...."
"She was with Drogyn?"
"Relax. The two of them were getting on well enough." Spike said.
"You have to get over there now."
"Why? What is it?" Wesley asked.
"Drogyn's dead."
"And how do you know that, Kreskin?" Spike asked.
"Because I killed him."
"What?" Angel punched Spike in the face. "Ow! You son of a...." Spike swung at Angel and missed. Angel grabbed Spike around the throat as Hamilton walked in through the office door.
"Sorry." He said. "Didn't know you were.... in conference."
"I was just making a closing statement...." Angel let go of Spike and pushed him toward the door. "Unless somebody didn't hear me." Gunn, Spike, and Lorne filed out the door. Angel stopped Wes on his way out. "Goes for you, too, Wes. Illyria's your responsibility. Make sure she doesn't get twitchy." He closed the door behind the others and Buffy ran her hand up the back of his shirt, nipping at his neck.
"So it's true." Hamilton said.
"What is?" Angel laid his hand on Buffy's bottom and kissed the top of her head, rolling his face towards Hamilton so his cheek stayed on Buffy.
"That she's in on it. Why didn't you tell me?"
"She's C.E.O. too. You should have figured it out."
"The way she was acting....."
"Was playing to the crowd." Buffy said. "Poor little wifey.... But now I can stop pretending. Can't I baby?" Angel growled as she kissed his passionately.
"Well.... Anyways.... You've got yourself a problem."
"Nothing you have to worry about." Angel said.
"Oh, not me. Your new friends. The Black Thorn. They're very concerned."
"Tell them to send me a memo. My wife and I are busy trying to run a business."
"You can tell them yourselves. They want to see you right now. Both of you." Hamilton grinned and turned toward the door. "No rest for the wicked."
As soon as he was gone, Buffy shoved Angel on the couch and straddled him. He played along and Buffy leaned into him, making it look like she was nibbling on his ear and neck. "He doesn't like that I'm in on it now."
"I can tell." Angel said.
"What're we going to do?"
"The Black Thorn likes you. You made an impression at the initiation. You'll be fine."
"What do you think they want?"
"We'll find out soon."
Angel sat at the head of the table listening to the other members chant. Buffy sat at his side looking like she was her evil self again: Regal and ruthless. "Of the world's woe, now convene. All is bound by the circle and its thorns. Invisible, inviolate, we, the seeds of the storm, at the center of the world's woe, now convene."
Sebassis looked at Angel. "The circle does not abide secrets."
"Which is interesting for a secret society." Buffy retorted.
"Remember your place, Slayer. You are not a member."
"If my place is in the circle, then hers is too." Angel said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"This morning's insurrection did not go unnoticed."
"You mean my people."
"They tried to kill you. An embarrassing affront, to say the least."
Vail spoke up. "And the stepping stone to disaster. You have ascended, Angel. You should not be burdened with this kind of...." He started to gasp and checked his tubes. The scrawny, pale slave of Sebassis' was wearing a blindfold and tripping over Vail's tubes. "Sebassis! Your manservant has become tangled in my bodily fluids again!"
Buffy grunted and stood up. She hauled the slave away and shoved him back. "Problem solved."
"My people are the problem?" Angel asked.
"Some of them, yes." Sebassis said.
"Some? Who missed the cut?"
"Other that your wife, we're interested in Mr. Wyndam-Price. He seems intriguingly unstable." Vail said.
"Mr. Gunn, on the other hand, does not, which is a pity. He had so much potential." The Senator said.
"He is not, however, our greatest concern." Sebassis said.
Angel smirked. "If the next words out of your mouth are 'Kill Spike', we just might have to kiss." Buffy glared at him. "Or at least hug."
"Spike is not the threat. You are." Sebassis signaled Izzy. "You've proven your loyalty to the circle. Regrettably, there's something stronger than loyalty.... hope." Izzy produced a cylindrical document holder and pulled a document out of it. He unrolled it on the table in front of Angel.
"This is the Shanshu Prophecy." Angel said.
"The original."
"The vampire with a soul will play a pivotal role in the apocalypse." The senator said.
"And as a reward, will become human." Vail finished.
"A paranoid person might think you're trying to manipulate us in an attempt to fulfill this prophecy and live out a normal life with your beautiful wife at your side."
"I have no desire to become human." Angel said.
Sebassis looked at Buffy. "What?" She asked. "You think as a human he could be half the man he is now. Too bad you'll never get him in bed, Sebassis. I think you'd understand why I like him better this way."
Sebassis chuckled. "Very well then. I guess you won't mind signing that pesky future away. Through that document, the prophecy can be undone. Your signature there will remove any opportunity that you will ever earn your once-precious humanity. Will you sign it?"
"Of course." Angel took the pen Izzy offered him. He leaned forward and began to sign it.
Izzy grabbed the pen from Angel and stabbed him in the left hand with it. "It's gotta be signed in blood." Angel grunted as he pulled the pen out of the back of his hand. He signed his name on the top of the document with his right hand.
Buffy watched Angel after Harmony left. She was standing out with Hamilton watching the blonde vampire strut away. "The Black Thorn has stated that you are quite the delight to have with them."
"Yeah." Buffy said offhandedly.
"You're not happy with it?"
She glanced at him. "I'm thrilled. It's him I'm worried about."
"The Black Thorn is now counting on you to keep him in line."
"I'm the only one who can it. Even Angelus bent to my will." With that, Buffy walked off. She headed into the office and shut the door behind her. "Hey."
"Hey." Angel said, turning to her.
"Hamilton's watching. Let's go upstairs." Buffy slipped her hand in Angel's back pocket and squeezed. He pulled her tightly to him and they headed towards the elevator. Once they got upstairs and made sure they were alone, the Slayer shoved Angel backwards. "I can't believe you!"
"What?"
"You signed away...." She tried to hold back a sob. "You signed your humanity away." He looked away guiltily. "I had to."
"You could have made a perfect excuse not to." The tears started to fall. "Our future's gone."
"It's not gone."
"As normal people it is. You're going to have to watch me grow old and die while you stay the same forever."
"I know."
"We're back to square one again."
"I'm sorry." Angel wrapped Buffy in his arms and kissed her neck as she sobbed. "I'm sorry."
"I'm just as guilty as you are. I just sat there, watching you sign your soul away."
"Buffy...." Angel paused. An idea forming. "Mohra."
She pulled away and sniffed. "What?"
"The Mohra demon.... The one that made me human before.... We'll find another one some day and be together."
"Oh Angel.... What are the chances of bagging one? We won't have the resources to find them anymore."
"Then we'll travel."
"With what? I'm broke...."
"But I'm not. Wolfram and Hart can't touch the places I have money hidden. And I've got plenty."
"And what happens when that runs out?"
"We'll find a way. We always find a way, Buffy."
"You gotta be joking." Lindsey said. "Why on God's green and verdant Earth would I trust you either of you, huh? Or you, me?" Buffy and Angel were sitting in the conference room having just proposed an idea to Lindsey.
"Cause it's not about us, Lindsey." Angel said. "It's about them. The wolf. The ram. The hart. The ones we've been fighting against forever."
"You can't beat em."
"Maybe they're not there to be beat." Buffy said quietly. "Maybe they're there to be fought. Maybe fighting them is what makes human beings so remarkably strong."
"You're not talking about the kind of strength human beings have. This is not about coveting your neighbor's ass, your buddy's job, the last Mallomar in the box. You're talking about fighting flesh and something that passes for blood demons with enormous power, and they will mow you both down."
"Maybe.... but I keep thinking that once this world was theirs and now it's not." Angel said.
"Isn't it?"
"Give us the hell on Earth speech, Lindsey. I know how bad things are, how much sway the demons hold. I happen to be the greatest mass murderer you've ever met."
"Never given you props for that, have I?"
"There's always going to be power, and there's always going to be corruption."
"So again I ask you...."
"Cause it's not what I'm expected to do. Cause you're good in a fight. And let's say we come up rolling 7s and this does go our way. We tear up this firm, someone's going to have to step in. I know that's what you want. Now, I'm a lot more comfortable with the thought of you in that position than anyone else."
"The devil you know."
"That'd be you." Buffy said.
"And what if you roll snake eyes?"
"You'll talk your way out of it. You'll tell them we forced you to help us. Tell them I made my scary face." Angel said.
"Believe it or not, I was actually talking about you. You guys don't care about being squashed like a bug?"
"Why does everyone refer to bugs when they talk about me?" Buffy asked.
"You haven't heard a word I've said. For, like, years back." Angel said to Lindsey.
"Well, you get a little speechy, all right? And I breeze out. I got the Cliff Notes.... honor and humanity. Absolute good. I heard it. So here's the plot twist.... I'm in." Lindsey said.
"Why?"
"Everybody goes on about your soul. Vampire with a soul. Nobody ever mentions the fact that you're really a vampire with big brass testes. This is gonna be a circus. I mean, win or lose, you're about to pick the nastiest fight since mankind drop-kicked the last demon out of this dimension. And that you don't do without me. If you want me, I'm on your team."
"I want you, Lindsey." Both Buffy and Lindsey stared at Angel. "I'm thinking about rephrasing that."
"Yeah, I think I Buffy and I'd both be more comfortable if you did."
Wesley, Spike and Gunn were standing in a circle, talking, while Lorne sat in a chair in the corner, watching Illyria. Buffy stood with Angel across the room. She was still in her bad-ass-evil-Buffy clothes, but didn't seem to notice hat she was uncomfortable in them. "How's she doing?" She asked Wesley.
"She needs more care than I can provide here. I have to get some supplies from home. Watch over her for me." Wesley said, grabbing his coat.
"Fat lotta good that's gonna do if Hamilton decides to make another house call." Spike said.
"Hamilton did this?" Angel asked.
"You didn't know?" Lorne asked.
"He brought Drogyn."
"To the circle.... so you could kill him to prove you'd gone over." Wesley said.
"Yeah." Lorne said. "Say, any other tips on how to be a hero we could share with the boys and girls at home?"
"I didn't have a choice. They would have killed us both...." Angel said.
"We get it." Gunn said. "We'd just like to know if they're gonna need any of the rest of us as proof."
"Pick us off one by one, you know." Spike said.
"No, they won't." Buffy said.
"We're killing them all tonight." Angel finished. "I want you all to do something for me, for yourselves. Take the day off."
"What?" Spike asked.
"If we're planning to assassinate the power elite of the apocalypse tonight, shouldn't we be cowboying up?" Gunn asked.
"We'll be ready, but today, I want you guys to go out. Live. Do whatever you want." Angel said.
"Live the day like it's your last...." Buffy said grimly. "Cause it probably is."
Buffy walked up to Connor in the coffee shop. She had changed her shirt to a white turtleneck sweater that was really baggy on her. "Hey kiddo."
Connor looked up. "Hi." He stood to give her a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Came for a visit."
"Where's Angel?"
"He's.... Somewhere."
"You guys aren't...."
"No! We're fine. I just had some time on my hands."
"That's cool." There was a pause and Connor looked her in the eyes. "I understand why Angel did it.... But why did you?"
"I thought you hated me just as much as you hated your father."
"I never did. A part of me kinda resented you a little because you were with him, but.... I loved you. Still love you. You're my mother."
Buffy touched her son's cheek and moved his hair out of the way. "I love you more than life itself. I told you I would give you the world if I could.... And I did. I gave you a better world. Angel and I both did."
"So, what's really going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't just show up out of the blue for a chat and some coffee."
"There's stuff, but it's nothing you need to worry about."
"Hey. Thought I find you here." Angel said, walking up.
"Yeah." Buffy pulled up a seat and Angel sat down.
"What were you guys talking about?"
"Family stuff."
Angel looked confused, so Connor clarified. "I know you're my parents."
"You got your memories back." Angel said.
"Yeah, they're mixed in there with the new ones. Kind of like, uh.... a bad dream I had, I guess, a very strange and violent, at times, inappropriately erotic.... dream."
"You probably have a lot of questions."
"No. I don't want to make a thing. I get what you guys did. You know.... I'm grateful. That's as far as I want to take it.... Ok?"
After a moment, Buffy looked at Connor's papers. "So, what are you working on?"
"I am applying for an internship. I'm supposed to write up a resume."
"Need any help?" Angel asked.
"Have you either of you ever written a resume before? Ever?"
"No.... but I have very nice handwriting."
"You girl." Buffy and Connor said.
"Then we're all agreed." Angel said, glancing down at Buffy.
"Yeah, we're all one big happy Manson family." Spike said.
"We taking 'em all at once?" Gunn asked.
Angel shook his head. "Can't. Circle of the Black Thorn is the most powerful group in this plane of existence. Together, they'd vaporize us, but separated, they're just demons."
Buffy stood a little taller despite her anxiety. "When do we make our move?"
Angel squeezed her shaking hand. "Soon. In the meantime, we have to keep up the infighting. The circle needs to believe we're coming apart at the seams." He looked down at Buffy. "Except for you. They think you're in on this now and you are. Can you handle it?"
"As long as I don't have to kill anybody, I'm game."
"What about Illyria?" Gunn asked.
"What about her?" Angel asked.
"Move like this, wouldn't hate having Blue Thunder in our corner."
"Can't trust she'll come down on our side."
"Trust me, she's housebroken." Lorne said. "She was babysitting Drogyn...."
"She was with Drogyn?"
"Relax. The two of them were getting on well enough." Spike said.
"You have to get over there now."
"Why? What is it?" Wesley asked.
"Drogyn's dead."
"And how do you know that, Kreskin?" Spike asked.
"Because I killed him."
"What?" Angel punched Spike in the face. "Ow! You son of a...." Spike swung at Angel and missed. Angel grabbed Spike around the throat as Hamilton walked in through the office door.
"Sorry." He said. "Didn't know you were.... in conference."
"I was just making a closing statement...." Angel let go of Spike and pushed him toward the door. "Unless somebody didn't hear me." Gunn, Spike, and Lorne filed out the door. Angel stopped Wes on his way out. "Goes for you, too, Wes. Illyria's your responsibility. Make sure she doesn't get twitchy." He closed the door behind the others and Buffy ran her hand up the back of his shirt, nipping at his neck.
"So it's true." Hamilton said.
"What is?" Angel laid his hand on Buffy's bottom and kissed the top of her head, rolling his face towards Hamilton so his cheek stayed on Buffy.
"That she's in on it. Why didn't you tell me?"
"She's C.E.O. too. You should have figured it out."
"The way she was acting....."
"Was playing to the crowd." Buffy said. "Poor little wifey.... But now I can stop pretending. Can't I baby?" Angel growled as she kissed his passionately.
"Well.... Anyways.... You've got yourself a problem."
"Nothing you have to worry about." Angel said.
"Oh, not me. Your new friends. The Black Thorn. They're very concerned."
"Tell them to send me a memo. My wife and I are busy trying to run a business."
"You can tell them yourselves. They want to see you right now. Both of you." Hamilton grinned and turned toward the door. "No rest for the wicked."
As soon as he was gone, Buffy shoved Angel on the couch and straddled him. He played along and Buffy leaned into him, making it look like she was nibbling on his ear and neck. "He doesn't like that I'm in on it now."
"I can tell." Angel said.
"What're we going to do?"
"The Black Thorn likes you. You made an impression at the initiation. You'll be fine."
"What do you think they want?"
"We'll find out soon."
Angel sat at the head of the table listening to the other members chant. Buffy sat at his side looking like she was her evil self again: Regal and ruthless. "Of the world's woe, now convene. All is bound by the circle and its thorns. Invisible, inviolate, we, the seeds of the storm, at the center of the world's woe, now convene."
Sebassis looked at Angel. "The circle does not abide secrets."
"Which is interesting for a secret society." Buffy retorted.
"Remember your place, Slayer. You are not a member."
"If my place is in the circle, then hers is too." Angel said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"This morning's insurrection did not go unnoticed."
"You mean my people."
"They tried to kill you. An embarrassing affront, to say the least."
Vail spoke up. "And the stepping stone to disaster. You have ascended, Angel. You should not be burdened with this kind of...." He started to gasp and checked his tubes. The scrawny, pale slave of Sebassis' was wearing a blindfold and tripping over Vail's tubes. "Sebassis! Your manservant has become tangled in my bodily fluids again!"
Buffy grunted and stood up. She hauled the slave away and shoved him back. "Problem solved."
"My people are the problem?" Angel asked.
"Some of them, yes." Sebassis said.
"Some? Who missed the cut?"
"Other that your wife, we're interested in Mr. Wyndam-Price. He seems intriguingly unstable." Vail said.
"Mr. Gunn, on the other hand, does not, which is a pity. He had so much potential." The Senator said.
"He is not, however, our greatest concern." Sebassis said.
Angel smirked. "If the next words out of your mouth are 'Kill Spike', we just might have to kiss." Buffy glared at him. "Or at least hug."
"Spike is not the threat. You are." Sebassis signaled Izzy. "You've proven your loyalty to the circle. Regrettably, there's something stronger than loyalty.... hope." Izzy produced a cylindrical document holder and pulled a document out of it. He unrolled it on the table in front of Angel.
"This is the Shanshu Prophecy." Angel said.
"The original."
"The vampire with a soul will play a pivotal role in the apocalypse." The senator said.
"And as a reward, will become human." Vail finished.
"A paranoid person might think you're trying to manipulate us in an attempt to fulfill this prophecy and live out a normal life with your beautiful wife at your side."
"I have no desire to become human." Angel said.
Sebassis looked at Buffy. "What?" She asked. "You think as a human he could be half the man he is now. Too bad you'll never get him in bed, Sebassis. I think you'd understand why I like him better this way."
Sebassis chuckled. "Very well then. I guess you won't mind signing that pesky future away. Through that document, the prophecy can be undone. Your signature there will remove any opportunity that you will ever earn your once-precious humanity. Will you sign it?"
"Of course." Angel took the pen Izzy offered him. He leaned forward and began to sign it.
Izzy grabbed the pen from Angel and stabbed him in the left hand with it. "It's gotta be signed in blood." Angel grunted as he pulled the pen out of the back of his hand. He signed his name on the top of the document with his right hand.
Buffy watched Angel after Harmony left. She was standing out with Hamilton watching the blonde vampire strut away. "The Black Thorn has stated that you are quite the delight to have with them."
"Yeah." Buffy said offhandedly.
"You're not happy with it?"
She glanced at him. "I'm thrilled. It's him I'm worried about."
"The Black Thorn is now counting on you to keep him in line."
"I'm the only one who can it. Even Angelus bent to my will." With that, Buffy walked off. She headed into the office and shut the door behind her. "Hey."
"Hey." Angel said, turning to her.
"Hamilton's watching. Let's go upstairs." Buffy slipped her hand in Angel's back pocket and squeezed. He pulled her tightly to him and they headed towards the elevator. Once they got upstairs and made sure they were alone, the Slayer shoved Angel backwards. "I can't believe you!"
"What?"
"You signed away...." She tried to hold back a sob. "You signed your humanity away." He looked away guiltily. "I had to."
"You could have made a perfect excuse not to." The tears started to fall. "Our future's gone."
"It's not gone."
"As normal people it is. You're going to have to watch me grow old and die while you stay the same forever."
"I know."
"We're back to square one again."
"I'm sorry." Angel wrapped Buffy in his arms and kissed her neck as she sobbed. "I'm sorry."
"I'm just as guilty as you are. I just sat there, watching you sign your soul away."
"Buffy...." Angel paused. An idea forming. "Mohra."
She pulled away and sniffed. "What?"
"The Mohra demon.... The one that made me human before.... We'll find another one some day and be together."
"Oh Angel.... What are the chances of bagging one? We won't have the resources to find them anymore."
"Then we'll travel."
"With what? I'm broke...."
"But I'm not. Wolfram and Hart can't touch the places I have money hidden. And I've got plenty."
"And what happens when that runs out?"
"We'll find a way. We always find a way, Buffy."
"You gotta be joking." Lindsey said. "Why on God's green and verdant Earth would I trust you either of you, huh? Or you, me?" Buffy and Angel were sitting in the conference room having just proposed an idea to Lindsey.
"Cause it's not about us, Lindsey." Angel said. "It's about them. The wolf. The ram. The hart. The ones we've been fighting against forever."
"You can't beat em."
"Maybe they're not there to be beat." Buffy said quietly. "Maybe they're there to be fought. Maybe fighting them is what makes human beings so remarkably strong."
"You're not talking about the kind of strength human beings have. This is not about coveting your neighbor's ass, your buddy's job, the last Mallomar in the box. You're talking about fighting flesh and something that passes for blood demons with enormous power, and they will mow you both down."
"Maybe.... but I keep thinking that once this world was theirs and now it's not." Angel said.
"Isn't it?"
"Give us the hell on Earth speech, Lindsey. I know how bad things are, how much sway the demons hold. I happen to be the greatest mass murderer you've ever met."
"Never given you props for that, have I?"
"There's always going to be power, and there's always going to be corruption."
"So again I ask you...."
"Cause it's not what I'm expected to do. Cause you're good in a fight. And let's say we come up rolling 7s and this does go our way. We tear up this firm, someone's going to have to step in. I know that's what you want. Now, I'm a lot more comfortable with the thought of you in that position than anyone else."
"The devil you know."
"That'd be you." Buffy said.
"And what if you roll snake eyes?"
"You'll talk your way out of it. You'll tell them we forced you to help us. Tell them I made my scary face." Angel said.
"Believe it or not, I was actually talking about you. You guys don't care about being squashed like a bug?"
"Why does everyone refer to bugs when they talk about me?" Buffy asked.
"You haven't heard a word I've said. For, like, years back." Angel said to Lindsey.
"Well, you get a little speechy, all right? And I breeze out. I got the Cliff Notes.... honor and humanity. Absolute good. I heard it. So here's the plot twist.... I'm in." Lindsey said.
"Why?"
"Everybody goes on about your soul. Vampire with a soul. Nobody ever mentions the fact that you're really a vampire with big brass testes. This is gonna be a circus. I mean, win or lose, you're about to pick the nastiest fight since mankind drop-kicked the last demon out of this dimension. And that you don't do without me. If you want me, I'm on your team."
"I want you, Lindsey." Both Buffy and Lindsey stared at Angel. "I'm thinking about rephrasing that."
"Yeah, I think I Buffy and I'd both be more comfortable if you did."
Wesley, Spike and Gunn were standing in a circle, talking, while Lorne sat in a chair in the corner, watching Illyria. Buffy stood with Angel across the room. She was still in her bad-ass-evil-Buffy clothes, but didn't seem to notice hat she was uncomfortable in them. "How's she doing?" She asked Wesley.
"She needs more care than I can provide here. I have to get some supplies from home. Watch over her for me." Wesley said, grabbing his coat.
"Fat lotta good that's gonna do if Hamilton decides to make another house call." Spike said.
"Hamilton did this?" Angel asked.
"You didn't know?" Lorne asked.
"He brought Drogyn."
"To the circle.... so you could kill him to prove you'd gone over." Wesley said.
"Yeah." Lorne said. "Say, any other tips on how to be a hero we could share with the boys and girls at home?"
"I didn't have a choice. They would have killed us both...." Angel said.
"We get it." Gunn said. "We'd just like to know if they're gonna need any of the rest of us as proof."
"Pick us off one by one, you know." Spike said.
"No, they won't." Buffy said.
"We're killing them all tonight." Angel finished. "I want you all to do something for me, for yourselves. Take the day off."
"What?" Spike asked.
"If we're planning to assassinate the power elite of the apocalypse tonight, shouldn't we be cowboying up?" Gunn asked.
"We'll be ready, but today, I want you guys to go out. Live. Do whatever you want." Angel said.
"Live the day like it's your last...." Buffy said grimly. "Cause it probably is."
Buffy walked up to Connor in the coffee shop. She had changed her shirt to a white turtleneck sweater that was really baggy on her. "Hey kiddo."
Connor looked up. "Hi." He stood to give her a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Came for a visit."
"Where's Angel?"
"He's.... Somewhere."
"You guys aren't...."
"No! We're fine. I just had some time on my hands."
"That's cool." There was a pause and Connor looked her in the eyes. "I understand why Angel did it.... But why did you?"
"I thought you hated me just as much as you hated your father."
"I never did. A part of me kinda resented you a little because you were with him, but.... I loved you. Still love you. You're my mother."
Buffy touched her son's cheek and moved his hair out of the way. "I love you more than life itself. I told you I would give you the world if I could.... And I did. I gave you a better world. Angel and I both did."
"So, what's really going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't just show up out of the blue for a chat and some coffee."
"There's stuff, but it's nothing you need to worry about."
"Hey. Thought I find you here." Angel said, walking up.
"Yeah." Buffy pulled up a seat and Angel sat down.
"What were you guys talking about?"
"Family stuff."
Angel looked confused, so Connor clarified. "I know you're my parents."
"You got your memories back." Angel said.
"Yeah, they're mixed in there with the new ones. Kind of like, uh.... a bad dream I had, I guess, a very strange and violent, at times, inappropriately erotic.... dream."
"You probably have a lot of questions."
"No. I don't want to make a thing. I get what you guys did. You know.... I'm grateful. That's as far as I want to take it.... Ok?"
After a moment, Buffy looked at Connor's papers. "So, what are you working on?"
"I am applying for an internship. I'm supposed to write up a resume."
"Need any help?" Angel asked.
"Have you either of you ever written a resume before? Ever?"
"No.... but I have very nice handwriting."
"You girl." Buffy and Connor said.