Due to popular demand, the fic shall go on. Connor's visit to Sunnydale will coincide with Spike's killing spree, making Buffy's job that much more complicated. Mind you, Connor will not forget about Los Angeles, or about Cordy.

Lorne puts the poultice on Angel's tongue. A look of dread comes over his face. He quickly stands up and walks towards the wall, away from his friends who sit in a circle, still waiting for the reversal. "Spike . . . Connor . . . Spike and Connor." Cordy is next. She immediately leaps to her feet and runs past Angel out of the building. He stops her in the courtyard.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Angel. I can't stay."

"How can you even think of going out there?"

"I . . . I remembered some stuff, and right now it's best for me to be alone."

"Not if you value your life. Spike could be out there."

"Yeah, that was confusing. Why was he here? And why didn't you kill him?"

"I was too busy trying to keep from getting killed - "

"And trying to kill me, let's not forget."

"No. How could I? I'm sorry. That came out wrong."

"It wasn't you. Well, it was you, but not the current you. Good thing Connor showed up. And what the hell was Spike doing here?"

"I don't know. Connor!"

"He came here for Connor?," she says with a grimace. "I know he likes people who wish death upon you, but I think your boy has too much class to hang with blondie."

"Connor and I fought. Then we talked. Then someone whacked me in the head, and I blacked out. When I came to, Connor was gone."

"Spike kidnapped your son?" She starts giggling. "I'm sorry. I know this is a serious matter, but - " she bursts out laughing again. Angel joins in. Lorne walks out.

"I see you two are taking it well. How bout you come in. It's time for your debriefing, Cordy." She looks aghast. "Okay, we'll begin with my debriefing."

"Ohhhh. You mean discuss my restored memories and the looming bloody apocalypse. For a minute there - "

"And Angelpie, there's something you need to know about Spike."

"I should check on Connor," Cordy suggests.

"This'll only take a minute," Lorne promises. "You'll have plenty of time to debrief the boy after." Cordy looks nervous. Angel looks alarmed. "Oh, for pete's sakes, get you minds out of the gutters!"

"Red skin, black horns, scary-looking," Fred sums up.

"That's all I remember," Cordy maintains. "Or, it's all I remember remembering. What if some stuff got lost? I can't remember anything before my third birthday."

"Neither can I," Angel assures her, before realizing that's not quite so reassuring, given those events happened more than two centuries ago.

"Maybe that's a good thing," Fred suggests. "Everyone who remembered the whole kit-and-caboodle ended up with their brains all over the walls."

"What about the English guy?," Gunn asks.

"Spike," Wesley replies.

"Yeah. The one who turned Liam here into his sidekick."

"I was NOT Spike's sidekick!!!," an irate Angel exclaims.

"He doth protest too much," Lorne quips.

"Spike, also known as William the Bloody, was once Angelus's chief crony," Wesley explains. "He's killed two Slayers, but hasn't made much of an impact for the past three years."

"So he's evil," Gunn concludes.

"Always was," Angel concurs.

"Not anymore," Lorne counters. Everyone gasps. Angel practically faints. "He did some singing."

"Pretty lousy, if you ask me," Angel defensively interjects. "Spike never could carry a tune."

"Actually, I found him relatively tuneful, for a vampire," Lorne responds. "I also found out that he has a soul."

"What?," Angel asks, supporting himself against a column to keep from falling down.

"What a copycat!," Cordy declares. "What total and complete copycat. Lemme guess – he's also fallen in love with Buffy!" She laughs until she notices Lorne isn't. However, once Angel realizes Lorne is serious, he starts laughing.

"Good luck with that! Talk about hurling yourself into a brick wall. Spike . . . and Buffy?" He laughs some more. "Spike always was an enormous masochist. I'm sure he gets off on the rejection."

"Is he cursed?," Fred asks.

"Who would bother?," Angel chortles.

"It seems the choice was his," Lorne reports. Angel stops laughing. Wesley's glad he's sitting down.

"Why on earth would any self-respecting demon choose to a get soul? Or any non-self-respecting demon, as the case may be."

"Buffy," Angel says with dread. "He's trying to impress her."

"Is this sorta thing normal?," Fred asks. "Okay, on a scale of zero to ten, ten being normal and zero being never happened before in the history of mankind, where would this rate? From everyone's silence, I'm guessing it's somewhere between one and zero. "

"I think we need to know more about the specific circumstances before we can pass judgement," Wes cautions, wary of giving Spike any credit.

"How do you get your soul back?," Fred asks. "Ah mean, if ya want it back?"

"There are trials," Lorne explains. "Similar to what Angel went through to save Darla, but far more elaborate." Angel glares at him. "Or, so I've heard."

"He probably just asked Willow to put a spell on him," Cordy guesses. "She's such a pushover, always doing everyone else favors."

"Is he Cursed?," Fred inquires once again, enraging Angel.

"He's miserable," Lorne assures them. "Suffering from a serious case of buyer's remorse."

"Did you see his future?," Wesley wonders.

"Futures can be altered."

"What did you see?," Angel asks.

"Death, pain, suffering. Much of it Spike's."

"What about Buffy?" Cordy groans, incensed by Angel's renewed fixation.

"She's not involved." Angel looks relieved. "Which seems to be the problem."

"You lost me back there, Lorne."

"He wants attention. Her attention. If he doesn't get it, he'll try a cry for help. And by cry for help I mean kill people until she notices him and validates his sacrifice."

"What sacrifice!?," Angel demands to know. "Spike has never sacrificed anything. It's not in his character."

"Characters can change," Fred points out. Now Cordy, Wes and Gunn join Angel is worrying about her Spike-ish sympathies. Angel remembers Spike telling him "We don't change! Demons don't change!" But he's not in the mood for irony right now.

"If he's got a soul, why's he killin' people?," Gunn asks.

"Because he's Spike," Angel offers.

"He hasn't killed anyone yet," Lorne clarifies.

"He tried to kill us," Cordy points out.

"He wasn't himself. Something's brainwashed him."

"Must've been on the light cycle," Angel quips. Cordy and Wes chuckle.

"I don't buy it," Cordy argues. "I don't believe some evil entity can come and take over a good person's body. Not unless they were bad to begin with. It's ridiculous. We're not puppets."

"And the marionette told Spike to come here and hurt my friends while I wasn't myself?," Angel asks.

"I think he came here for help. Maybe someone to relate to. Though I also sensed a strong need to brag, which can't be good. But then he stopped being himself. Or, he became a different version of himself."

"We were all different versions of ourselves," Wes notes.

"But this isn't a one-time occurrence. Because of some icky unresolved Oedipal Complex, he's wired for murder. I need to get in touch with Buffy."

"No," Angel orders. "She'll do what she has to."

"You want her to kill him!"

"You just said he's a killer," Gunn reminds Lorne. "That's what the good guys do to demons who attack people."

"It's not his fault."

"Would you give up on Angel if he turned into Angelus?," Fred asks Gunn. He doesn't answer at first.

"That's different."

"Angel's a Champion," Wesley adds.

"How do we know this Spike guy isn't?," Fred asks, causing Angel, Wes and Cordy to gasp in amazement.

"Have you seen him?," Cordy asks rhetorically. "No champion has hair like that."

"Spike lacks the requisite depth of character to be a Champion," Wesley argues. Angel's glad he doesn't have to make these points and appear petty.

"Whatever happened to don't judge a book by its cover?," Lorne asks.

"Spike's nothing but cover," Angel replies.

"I wish I could help him," Lorne laments.

"How about trying to help us!?," Angel shouts.

"Two birds with one stone."

"Come again?," Wesley asks.

"Say Spike left with Connor. I don't know, but say he did. Then he's either turning Connor against you, or trying to kill Connor. Depending on whether Spike's good or evil."

Angel looks outraged and perplexed. "Which one is which?," Fred asks.

"Spike may be under the impression that Connor is some destroyer sent here to obliterate the universe. It's a valid assumption - "

"I can see how someone would - ," Fred begins, before Angel's look of death shuts her up.

"Spike may think it's his mission to kill Connor and thereby save the world a mess of grief." Angel sprints to the door. Cordy follows.

"I'm going alone. He could hurt you."

"Hate to spoil the mood, but ain't we overreactin'?," Gunn asks. "Boy grew up in a hell dimension. I think he can handle Billy Idol."

"True, but he might not be able to put him away," Angel replies, grabbing a stake before leaving.

"You're gonna kill 'em!?," Fred exclaims. "Ain't that like throwin' out the baby with the bathwater?"

"Connor's the baby," Angel retorts before leaving.

"Why do Buffy's problems always have to come here and bite us in the ass?," Cordelia complains.