Part 6

He felt like he was watching the scene unfolding before him with new eyes, or maybe he hadn't been looking properly before. Had he really come here every morning for six months and seen absolutely nothing?

Maybe, or maybe he hadn't wanted to see. Hadn't wanted to see the beauty that was laid out before him like a banquet. A wonder of nature's brilliance, the embodiment of the truest form of life, the cycle of death and rebirth.

Chuckling to himself he leant against the railing on Santa Monica peer. He could just imagine, Gunn's or Faith's face if he had said that out loud to either of them. They'd have told him quite categorically that he needed to get out more or change his reading material.

He and Faith had talked well into the night; it had been hard at times, some topics sorer than others. They had agued, commiserated and laughed, but the only topic he had refused to talk about was Buffy. That was one open wound he wanted left alone. Faith had pushed, but backed off quickly when he became too agitated by her persistence. His earlier episode had scared her and she was loathed to upset to the point of causing another one, so the topic of Buffy and the Scoobies, was left well alone.

By the time he had fallen asleep on the couch, he had found something within himself that had been missing for a very long time. A tiny spark, he wasn't sure if it was hope or purpose, but what ever it was, it was start.

He was no fool; he had no grandiose plans for a sparkling future, no whimsical dreams of a perfect life. The closest he had come to thinking about the future was the decision he had made upon waking, well before dawn as usual. As he'd followed his early morning routine and headed for the peer, he had already decided that this would be the last time he came here to watch the sun rise. It was time to lay this particular ghost to rest.

Every breath still hurt and not because of the weakened muscled desperately trying to pump blood around is ailing body. No this pain came from the soul, the grief and guilt that would never leave. His mind was a maze of confused emotions; betrayal, love, hate, friendship, trust and mistrust. He realised it would be so easy to slip back into the numbness, to return to the cold dark place he had been just 24 hours earlier. A large part of him wanted to, longed to. But Faith was right; who was he, to decide when his time was up?

But then again who was he anyway? He wasn't Angelus, or Angel: Vampire with a Soul. He wasn't Liam, not for a long time. So who was he? Sighing he closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of the first rays from the sun on his face. It didn't really matter. Maybe he could start again, be a completely new person, new name, new town, new life. No, he wouldn't do that; he had people who would worry if he disappeared. That thought made the tiniest of smiles creep over his lips. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets he pushed away from the railing and headed back to his beloved GTX.

Leaning heavily against the stair well he cursed the broken elevator as he made his way to the third floor of his building, laden with bags from the grocery store. He really hadn't lied to Faith the day before about being distracted and forgetting to go to the store. Only, before Faith's version of a verbal ass kicking, all he probably would have bought was some tinned soup and some cheese. Now he'd bought a bit more than was easy to carry, but Faith was right he needed to look after himself better. Breathing a sigh of relief he pushed open the door to the third floor. It had taken nearly twenty minutes to climb the stairs, he had to stop at every floor, to give himself a breather and give his heart a rest. He could feel it straining under the exertion and for the first time it really saddened him. A year ago he could run hours with out stopping, leap rooftop to rooftop, throw a man twice his size across a room without blinking an eye. Now after a short walk, half an hour in a store and climbing three flights of stairs, he was wiped out.

Turning into the hallway that lead to his apartmen,t he stopped in his tracks. There were two people stood outside his door. Two women, two women he recognised. Struggling slightly, he continued down the hallway, they had yet to notice him and he was grateful for that, it would give him some time to prepare what to say. Why had Faith done this? Why had she brought one of HER friends here? And why Willow, out of all of them? That small spark he'd found earlier, grew dimmer as he contemplated what could have brought them to his door, how many more betrayals must he endure before he learned to trust no one but himself?

"I suppose you two want to come in?" he asked as he reached the door, making Willow squeak in surprise.

The pair nodded, Willow not sure what to say and Faith confused by the return of the cold demeanour in her friend. They entered the apartment in silence, Angel moving to put away his groceries, without speaking to or making eye contact with either girl. They remained in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, broken only by the sound of tins being placed in cupboards and the refrigerator door opening and shutting. Faith watched as Willow wrung her hands worriedly from her place stood in the middle of the main room.

Nudging the Redhead, Faith nodded her head towards the ex vampire who had his back to them. Taking a deep breath and setting her jaw in the familiar resolve face, Willow stepped forward.

"Angel... I want to help."

Angel stiffened and lowered his arm from where he was putting a jar in a high cupboard. Placing both hands flat on the counter he leant his weight on them, tension radiating from his body in choking waves.

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend."

"Am I now?" he answered back turning to face the redhead, leaning back against the counter and folding his arms over his chest.

"Yes, you are. I don't leave the middle of a fight, to drive two hours, to do a soul restoration spell for just anyone you know." She offered up a small smile, but Angel's face remained neutral. Taking a step closer she studied him closely. "I know you don't believe me, and don't trust me. But you do need me."

"Faith says you want to go back into hospital soon." It wasn't a question but Angel nodded slightly. "Then you need my help, and that's why we're here."

Angel looked from the determined red head to the slayer standing a short distance away. She was looking at him pleadingly. The tension left him and he raised his hand to squeeze the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

"OK, explain this to me."

Willow looked over to Faith and they shared relieved grins. Moving over to the small kitchen table and pulling out her laptop, Willow directed Angel into a seat. Wrinkling her nose with a giddy grin, she began to explain.

At exactly 2pm three extremely powerful young women met in the lobby of the Meridian Hotel. One blonde, one Brunette, one redhead. One mission.

"Any luck?"

"Oh yeah. Angel Keeley, Born May 12th 1978, first generation Irish American, resident of Los Angeles CA. now officially exists and has done since he immigrated to the US with his parents in 1986. He's supposed to have duel nationality but its gonna take a few days for me to get him on the Irish systems and sort all of the little odds and ends. But... Mission accomplished."

"How bout you, B?"

"Spoke to Gunn, got lots of useful and enlightening information. I take it you guys want to stay here too, until Angel's better?" The two other girls nodded. "Then we now have somewhere to live, that isn't council funded."

"So what now?"

"Andrew's been avoiding everyone all morning. Giles has been his usual self and just went back up to his room. I say we pay him a visit."

Giles leant back in his chair as he read the paper work in front of him. It hadn't taken long for the researchers at the council to find out exactly what he needed to know. 24 hours and he had a means to a swiftly executed end. It was drastic, he knew, but he had to cover his tracks now and fast. It may not come to the drastic action he now had the information to carry out, but it could. It all depended on two things. Buffy's feelings and the where the loyalties of the other slayers lay; all sixty active ones and the 25 or so newly activated potentials. Oh and of course, how much the twerp Andrew had given away.

He hadn't seen any of his young charges that morning and it worried him. He doubted Faith had put the pieces together and realised that he had been using Andrew to drive a rift between the blonde Slayer and the souled vampires, but Willow was clever, too clever for own good. Picking up the phone he dialled the number on the paper in front of him.

"How soon can you be in place?"

"No, not for the moment."

"Any residual evidence?"

"Good"

"Be ready to go when I say."

Giles was interrupted when the door to his suit burst open and Buffy and Willow stormed in.

"Giles," Buffy said sweetly, "I think there's something you need to tell me."

Telling the person on the other end of the phone to wait a moment, he pulled the phone away from his ear and looked directly at his slayer.

"What exactly is it, that you think I need to tell you?"

At that moment the sounds of struggling could be heard outside the door and Faith entered, dragging a resisting Andrew by his hair. Giles looked to the boy then back to Buffy. Seeing the anger so evident in her posture, her face and in her eyes, he raised the phone back to his mouth.

"You have the go ahead" he enunciated calmly before hanging up. "So you know."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Buffy yelled storming over to her watcher. "What right have you to meddle in my life? In his?"

"Being your Watcher gives me all the right I need to make sure you are no longer bothered by that useless... Animal." Giles steamed rising to his feet. "From the moment he stepped into our lives, he has done nothing but cause chaos, I saw an opportunity to finally sever any ties he believed he had and I took it. You are the Slayer! And as such you know as well as I do your duty is to rid this world of Evil, of Monsters, like him."

Buffy struck, her hand flew out and slapped the watcher's face with such force he stumbled back into his chair. Faith let go of Andrew, he'd served his use and she didn't blink when he skittered from the room. Flanking Buffy, she and Willow approached the Watcher.

"You let an innocent young woman perish, and you did it in my name." Willow hissed, swirls of back running through her usually kind green eyes.

"All because of who she worked for, for what? Revenge?" Faith joined in, corralling the watcher. "Wrong person, asshole."

Resting her hands on the arms of his chair Buffy leant in until she was nose to nose with the man she once loved as a father. "You manipulated Andrew, and used him to spread malicious lies, lies designed to hurt a man to whom you owe your life many times over. The man I Love, have always loved and always will love."

Buffy pushed away from the chair and turned her back on the watcher. Giles went to speak but willow silenced him.

"Shut up." With a wave of her hand Giles found his voice gone, his mouth frozen.

"You were going to sit here and watch him die. You were happy about it!" Faith took her turn at venting her frustration.

Buffy suddenly spun round and grabbing Giles by the lapels, she threw him across the room, where he landed in a heap against he far wall. As Giles struggled to stand Buffy approached him and placed her foot on his chest.

"I used to think of you like a father, I loved you like one. I trusted you more than I trusted anyone other than Angel. Now you just make me sick. When we leave this hotel I never want to see you again, the only reason you're not dead is because I have issues about killing humans. Something you don't seem to have a problem with."

As Buffy yelled at her watcher, Willow moved over to the desk and scanned the papers littering the surface. One in particular caught her attention, grabbing the watcher's cell phone; she checked the recently dialled numbers and gasped.

"Buffy" Turning to the redhead, Buffy saw her holding out a sheet of paper in a trembling hand. Taking it in confusion, Buffy quickly read over its contents.

Target has heart condition, serious.

Tactical evaluation: high dosage stimulants administered at range.

Diagnosable cause of death, sudden lethal cardiac episode.

Available for immediate implementation.

Operative in place – 555 012446

Buffy looked to her best friend and the truth was written in her face, she didn't have to ask. Giles' words from earlier rang in her head. 'you have the go ahead.'

"Angel."

tbc