A/N: Glad you seem to like it this far. Well, stay tuned, because we're just getting started…
CHAPTER
4: THE EX-LOVER'S LOVER
While Angelus was roaming free on the other side of town, completely unknown to the gang, Buffy, Angel, Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya and Giles were all gathered at the Magic Box. They had found it difficult to research and discuss while customers ran back and forth between the shelves, but they had done the best they could until it was time to close the shop for the day. They were all in agreement – getting rid of Angelus was the best solution. No matter if what he had told Angel in the mansion was actually true – that he existed in Angel as well, and they wouldn't be rid of him even if they killed him, it would be the easiest way to end the situation. Not to mention how every one of them would love to see him crumble to dust…
So far they had figured out that the demon Angel had encountered was most likely a creature called Toth – the last member of the Tothric clan. The description was right, and it also mentioned his rod like weapon. Unfortunately they had yet to find out exactly what the weapon did – apart from splitting people in two that was – and exactly where it left the two halves. They had worked on that part for hours and still made no progress.
"Forget this. Nothing in here either." With a growl of frustration, Angel slapped his book shut. "What does it take?"
Xander gulped, studying the angry vampire cautiously. He wasn't acting like himself at all. Even though Xander had never liked him, even he could admit that, barring when he was sans soul, he had never acted violently or impatiently like this. This was new, and thoroughly disturbing.
Giles readjusted his glasses and took a deep breath. "Now, Angel, delicate matters like this one very often require an extensive investigation, which unfortunately can take time. I've put in calls to the Watchers' Council and perhaps they can be of assistance…"
"Screw the Council" Angel snapped. "I don't care about them. They didn't provide the smallest bit of help when I was poisoned – I'm not hoping for their assistance today." He grabbed the book he had been reading and flung it across the room. Giles winched when he heard the old spine of it crack as it hit the wall.
"This obviously isn't working," Angel continued. "I say we forget about researching and just go back to the mansion and kill Angelus. Very simple – stake in the heart, the son of a bitch turns to dust. Problem solved."
Xander nudged Buffy in the side. "Are you really sure you brought the right version here with you? 'Cause, well, he's acting pretty Angelus-like to me," he whispered as if Angel wouldn't hear it. At his words Angel's head snapped towards him and he shot him an evil glare. Xander took the hint and stared down at his hands.
"Angel." Buffy spoke to him as softly as possible. "I know it's been a long, hard day and you're tired and frustrated. We all are."
At the sound of her voice, he made an obvious effort to calm down. It pleased Buffy that they evidently still had a connection. Not that she had thought that a year apart would ruin what they'd had…
What was she thinking? Angel hadn't been absent for a little while; he had left her. Started a new life in another city. Gotten other friends. He had moved on. Why wouldn't he? She had. She had a new boyfriend that she… cared for a lot and… yes, she did.
"I'm sorry," Angel apologized sincerely. "That wasn't me," he said, gesturing towards the book. "Not really. I haven't felt right since last night, since Angelus was split from me. I don't like what's going on."
"Yeah, I'm with dead boy on this one" Xander interjected. "Two Angels are definitely worse than one, especially when one is of the psycho variety. Or possibly both, in a way."
"Xander, shut up" Buffy scolded angrily. That was really unnecessary. The last thing she needed was for someone to set Angel off again, and Xander simply lacked a feeling for when it was a good time to keep his comments to himself.
"Why don't we take a break" Willow suggested to everyone's relief. "I think maybe it would be good to get out… cool off and, and stretch our legs. For some of us. All of us! I meant, all of us." She turned a bright shade of pink, hoping she hadn't insulted Angel. He smiled thinly at her, indicating that he wasn't angry. "Besides," Willow continued, encouraged, "maybe Angelus knows more than he says? Talking to him could be worth another shot, right?"
"Right," Buffy agreed. "We should check on him anyway," she said. Her voice may be steady, but at the mere suggestion of seeing Angelus again, she felt a slight nausea coming on. It made her extremely nervous, and she was ashamed of it. Her cheeks flushed bright red and her heart sped up slightly. She hoped no one noticed it; that she still became so affected by him. Angel noticed it though. He locked eyes with her across the table, as if trying to convey how sorry he was about everything that was going on. Well, it wasn't his fault. It had never been his fault – not the first time, and even less this time around.
"Yeah, I guess a change of scenery would be nice," Angel said.
"Then that's settled," Giles said, picking up the harmed book from the floor. "Let's head out as soon as possible."
Anya and Xander volunteered to stay behind in the Magic Box in case the Council phoned back, while the others left for the mansion.
"How could this happen?" Fifteen minutes later, Buffy stared incredulously at the empty chains that hung on the wall. "How did he break free? Giles, I thought you said those chains were magically enhanced?"
"He didn't break free," Tara said, holding up the chains. "Look, they're not broken, just unlocked. He must have found a key."
"Impossible, I have the only one on me…" Giles showed them the key from his pocket.
"Do we know for sure that's the only one?" Willow asked.
"I-I suppose not," Giles admitted.
"Where do you think he's gone?" Willow asked, looking at Angel and Buffy. Buffy swallowed hard. Dealing with a cocky, manipulative and big mouthed Angelus in chains was bad enough. Now he was loose in Sunnydale again. Who knew what he might do? Buffy felt a slight weakness in her knees at the thought of having to hunt him down and capture him. Having to fight him. Again.
"He'll want to feed," Angel supplied bitterly. "So I'm thinking the better populated areas, in town. Maybe the Bronze, or cemeteries that are located close to houses and streets."
"The Bronze is closed tonight," Willow said.
"I'd say cemeteries are our best bet, then" Angel said, trying to figure out where he'd go if he was the one out for a meal. "Maybe Restfield and Shady Hill?" Buffy nodded.
"Probably. He likes… I mean, he used to hunt a lot at Restfield."
"I know," Angel replied quietly.
"I'm sorry Angel, I didn't mean…" She grabbed his right hand, trying to comfort him. "We'll catch him. You guys go together to Shady Hill," she said to the gang. "Angel and I will take Restfield." She moved closer too him, almost leaning slightly against his tall frame.
"What if we find him first?" Tara asked, a little nervous. Willow had told her about Angel's evil side and what had happened the last time when Angel had lost his soul.
"Do you have a phone?" Willow patted her pocket.
"I took Xander's before we left, in case we would need to split up."
"Good. Okay, if you see him, call. Don't approach. The conditions aren't the same as last time, but... he won't be less dangerous than usual." Willow nodded.
"Got it."
"Call Xander and Anya," Buffy continued. "Let them know what's what; I don't think they will be a first target, but they deserve to know what goes bump in the night." Willow nodded.
"Come on," Angel said. He and Buffy disappeared out the door. Willow remained staring after them for a moment.
"Did any of you think she was… a little too much with the touchy hands? I mean, she has a boyfriend, and Angel's…"
"Willow, time is a factor," Giles reminded. He definitely did not want to hear anything more. He could only hope that Angel and Buffy would be sensible enough to realize that nothing that broke them apart in the first placed had changed. If they didn't… well, there wasn't much he could do about it.
Carefully considering his next action, Angelus turned around to face the annoying intruder. This wasn't part of his plane, but it had happened, and now he'd have to deal with it. Kill him. Should he kill him? That annoying wall of self control shot up in front of his instincts, frustrating him. Hmm. No wonder his souled counterpart was so boring.
Maybe that was why he was always brooding so much, to learn how to control his instincts and wants. "Don't drink pigsblood yet." "Don't kill that stupid idiot." "Behave, be good." "No, no pigsblood yet." "Only hit him, don't twist his head clean off his body." "Okay, time for pigsblood. Drink slowly; it's all you're getting." Well, Angelus clearly remembered all the thoughts from all the years with a soul, but they hadn't made any sense until now. At least it explained a few things. He knew it couldn't have been just the soul that made his souled version such a precautious wimp.
Riley's eyes widened as he saw who he had caught handling a girl that very obviously had just been fed from. He lowered his weapon but let his finger remain on the trigger.
He didn't think he'd ever be completely trusting towards the vampire that was Buffy's ex-boyfriend. Now, he could admit that his actions had been a little hasty the last time he had met Angel, but what was he supposed to think? He had had knocked four soldiers out cold, it was a suspicious situation to say in the least. This one wasn't much better, but Riley had learned his lesson. He would give him a chance to explain himself before he started going on about evil and lost souls. After all, that only happened when he…when he slept with Buffy, and that certainly couldn't have happened now.
"Angel, what are you doing?" he asked the vampire. His face looked bitter, scowled and slightly confused. In other words, just like the last time he'd met him. Wait a minute. Was that blood on his lips?
"Riley. Such a pleasure to finally meet you," Angelus said, stepping forward. Riley narrowed his eyes.
"Angel, we've already met." He looked flustered. "What are you doing in town?"
"Well, you know. I was just here to see the old girlfriend, came in last night…" he let off a slight smirk.
Riley lowered his gaze, hurt. So that was why Buffy had run off so quickly from the Bronze last night and turned down his proposal to see him today. She was too busy seeing Angel. An uncomfortable thought passed through his mind. Possibly not only seeing, but also doing Angel…
Last time, she had assured him that she and Angel was over. Maybe they were broken up officially, but Riley wasn't stupid. Those two hadn't left each other because the love between them had ended, as much as he hated to admit it.
"Oh," he answered simply.
Angelus masked a full blown sardonic grin. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. He could sense immediately that Riley was everything but confident about his relationship with Buffy. It only took for him to drop the hint that they had been spending the day together, and he seemed ready to accuse her of being unfaithful. Well, actually, he HAD been with her all day. Just not this version of him. To twist the truth just enough to hurt people with it, it was a wonderful way to torment someone mentally.
"Yeah," he continued. "She told me a lot about the two of you." Angelus tried to recall something he could use that wasn't only made up. "She said you don't have a lot of time for each other anymore." Riley swallowed.
"She – she did?" Score one for the vamp, Angelus thought. This obviously was something that had been an issue.
"Mmm. She feels very torn, you know. Between you and her duty. You know, that girl lives for her duty. Literally – being the chosen one and all. She doesn't think that it works very well to mix those two." Angelus stepped closer to Riley, stepping over the corpse of the girl on the way. She was dead now; the last few faint heartbeats had faded into nothingness.
"You know," Angelus said. "When she and I were together, we never had that problem."
"Really." The boy was trying to keep up his cool outline, but he failed to fool Angelus. He could practically see the pride of the man inside that vest clad flesh-package drop all his self-esteem and run away to hind behind his mother's legs.
"Yeah. It worked out great. You can say we combined her duty and – mine, it worked very well." Well, it wasn't a lie. HE and Buffy had never been together exactly, but during these six months that he was soulless and fancy-free, whenever they had met there had been slaying duties involved.
"So, how are you nowadays?" Riley swallowed and looked into the vampire's dark eyes. Very dark. Calm. Hard. "Feeling – spiritual, lately?" Angelus grinned.
"Riley, boy, if that's a way to ask me if I've lost my soul recently, points for effort, but I prefer if you just say what you want to know. And, by the way, it is an interesting question…" Without Riley noticing it, Angelus grabbed the rifle of his shot gun and held it tightly.
"Why don't you ask Buffy when you see her? Ask her if last night was as good for her as it was for me," he whispered, staring into Riley's confused eyes. That did it, this HAD to be Angel without a soul. If it wasn't, then Buffy would have to forgive him for his actions when he told her what he had said. He raised his weapon and fired.
Only he didn't. Instead of being able to raise the gun, he found it being ripped from his hands by Angel, who spun around and hit him hard in the side with the handle of the gun. Riley groaned. Before he had time to recover Angel swept away his feet, and Riley tumbled to the ground.
"Now," Angelus said, smirking. "What should I do with you?"
"Riley! Angelus" a voice called from their left before Angelus had the time to consider exactly what he wanted to do to the corn-fed guy who had been claiming Buffy for the last few months. They both turned, Riley still lying flat on his back in the grass. Angel and Buffy came running up the hill.
Angel glared from Angelus to Riley on the ground, as if unsure who he really hated the most. He felt nothing but glee about the fact that his other self had obviously been well on the way of beating him up. That was good; the stout boy needed a good ass kicking as far as Angel was concerned.
But then his gaze drifted to the girl lying a few feet behind Angelus. Slumped in the kind of heap that only a drained body would make, he had seen it thousands of times. He couldn't hear a heartbeat from her – Angelus had killed her. That meant that he had killed her.
Buffy pulled a stake from her pocket, just for showing him that she was willing to fight. "Drop the gun and back away from Riley, Angelus. Now."
"Come on, Buff. I was just having a little talk with your boy Riley, making sure that everything is good and well in your lives. Quiet frankly, I doesn't seem like it is. I'm worried about the two of you."
"Oh really. I'm touched," Buffy hissed between clenched teeth. "Step back." Angelus shrugged, dropped the shotgun on Riley and moved away a few steps.
Riley took the chance to get back to his feet. "What is this? Are they twins?"
"Something like that. It's – um, it's complicated." Buffy replied shortly, not taking her eyes off Angelus.
"Okay," Riley said, not meaning it. There was nothing okay about this situation. He was confused and felt used. Obviously Buffy's past with Angel and this… very strange twin brother was even more complicated than he had realized. "I was on patrol, found Angel's… brother, with the girl over there. She has a bite mark on her neck, but I'm not sure who…"
"Angelus killed her," Angel said bitterly. "That's my… his mark."
"You know me too well, brother," Angelus smirked. Angel took a menacing step towards him.
"Riley, can you take the girl to the hospital? Angel and I'll take care of the situation here," Buffy tried to convince him, desperate to get him out of there. She was actually afraid for what might happen to him if he stayed.
If they had to fight Angelus, she would need to make sure that either Angelus or Angel didn't do him any harm. Angel had beat him up pretty badly the last time they met, and this time he was unbalanced, more aggressive than usual. No, if Riley stayed, he would get in the way and it would get him hurt. Even if they got away without a battle, she could see it in Angelus' eyes that he was eager to play even more tricks on Riley's mind, and she didn't need that. The situation would be hard enough to explain anyway.
"I think I'm needed here," Riley said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"No, really, just go. We'll be fine. Right Angel?" He nodded shortly, concentrated on glaring evilly at his counterpart. Angelus took a step forward, ready to attack at any moment.
"Buffy, why are we even discussing this? Why don't you want me to stay?"
"Because don't need you!" she yelled in a tone that came out much harsher than it was intended. Riley looked away, smiling sadly.
"No, I guess you made that pretty clear," he said, defeated. He picked up his weapon, strapped it to his belt, picked up the girl and left. Ashamed of her words, Buffy hurried after him.
"Riley, wait." He stopped briefly and looked at her. "Riley, I didn't mean…"
"Don't, Buffy. Don't. You meant it. Look, we'll meet up later. As usual." He looked at the two black clad men that held their positions, glaring at each other. "You obviously got your hands full here. And I'm sure you will come up with some nice explanation for this later, but… Right now I should get this girl to the morgue. You go deal with her murderer."
With that, he continued his walk down the hill. Buffy stared after him for a second, unhappy with how the scene had played out. Realizing that it wasn't over – they needed to get Angelus with them back to the magic shop. Willingly, or not.
"Okay Angelus," Buffy said. "There are two ways we can to this. There's the easy way – and there's the hard way. You pick. Either way, you're coming back with us." Angelus looked from Buffy to Angel and back. "You're overpowered here, okay?" Buffy continued. "Not just a slayer that has kicked your sorry ass all the way back to hell once; but also yourself. How do you beat a pair like that?"
"How do you know I won't kill him?" Angelus said, grinning at Angel.
"Because you don't know what will happen to you if you do. We haven't found anything that say's you won't die too. And I think we all know that you are too egocentric to actually risk your own existence."
Angelus snorted. Not that he was going to give any signs of defeat, but she was right. He could try to flee the scene – but it wasn't his style. Besides, Angel was looking very much in the bloodhound mode – he would try to track him down. He might as well follow them willingly, play nice. If he did long enough, Buffy would let her guard down, and that would be his opening. He would have to walk away from this battle to win the war.
"Okay," he said simply. Buffy frowned.
"Just like that?"
"I said okay. Figure, if I get away, Soul boy here might be so frustrated that he trips and falls on a pointy picket fence in his desperate want to find me." He dredged up a little chilling laughter. "Now, that would be a funny sight, but if it means I'm dust as well, I'll have to make do with the imagination." Angel still glared at him.
"Okay," Buffy said suspiciously. "Let's go, the guys should still be at Shady Hill."
As they walked, Angelus noticed that Buffy kept between him and Angel as if afraid that they might attack each other if she didn't keep an eye on them. Angelus wasn't about to do something as reckless – Angel on the other side didn't seem very interested in the reasons to why he shouldn't fight himself. He was making no secret of his hatred for his counterpart, shooting him evil glares and occasionally snarling as they walked.
Just as expected, Giles, Willow and Tara were waiting at the gates of the Shady Hill cemetery.
"Is everything okay" Willow asked, looking cautiously at her companions. Even though neither of the vampires where in chains, it wasn't hard to figure out who was who. The one on Buffy's right didn't look quite as calm as he used to, but the one to the left… She couldn't even look at him straightly without her stomach clenching in fear. His stance was cocky, his movement stalking and predator like, and the gaze… it was feral.
Angelus smirked at the frightened little witch. Her fear of him was still a turn-on. He wanted to get right into what he was going to do with her, but he quickly put a lid on those thoughts as Angel snapped his head to the side and glared at him. Willow gulped.
"In that sense, yes. Otherwise, not so much," Buffy grimaced. "We need to figure out what to do here, as in now."
"Back to the Magic Box" Giles ordered stiffly, uncomfortable in the presence of Angelus. "All of us."
Angelus followed silently, pleased that no one had suggested restraining him in any way – though he was pretty sure Angel would want to. Angelus was surprised at how easily he could play the waiting game and avoid ripping Buffy's friends to pieces – it must be Angel's sense of self-control helping him along. He might have had his doubts before, but right now it was a help.
Several minutes later they arrived back at the Magic Box where Anya and Xander were waiting. Angelus could see that Xander must have used the time to tell Anya stories about him, because she looked pretty scared when they stepped inside. Well, she should be.
"Oh good, you found him" Xander exclaimed in relief, pointing a stake at the more aggressive-looking Angel.
"Wrong vampire" Tara informed him, sitting down next to Willow . "That's Angel."
Lowering his stake, Xander studied both of the identical vampires in front of him. "Are you sure? That one is looking more homicidal to me. And Angelus isn't known for his calm disposition, if you know what I mean."
"Maybe I find the thought of being here, planning how I'm going to kill you all horribly soothing," Angelus said calmly, a slight grin on his face. Xander gulped.
"Okay. Now I recognize him."
"Right back at you," Angelus said, taking a step towards Xander. "Still a scared little boy, thinking that he is a hero. Well, I can tell you, few heroes reek of fear the way you..."
"Put a sock in it," Angel said tiredly. Angelus simply gave him a look and let his glance drift to Willow.
He silently observed how the unknown blonde woman next to her squirmed uncomfortably under his piercing glance. She sat very close to Willow for being just a friend, and she practically stank of love and goodness. A lover, he thought. Interesting. It didn't seem like she was very close to anyone except for Willow, though. The way she interacted with the others – they seemed like they hardly knew each other, while Willow gave the impression that she knew her very well. The blonde girl had certain sadness in her eyes, a longing he had seen many times before. A sadness that meant that she had been let down and abandoned by someone she loved. Oh, he would use that. Later on…
"Willow," he said. "Did I ever… thank you properly, for returning my soul that time?" This time Angel grabbed his evil self, spun him around and hit him squarely in the face. Angelus tried to hit back, but Angel was too quick – and too angry, he grabbed him by the collar and shoved him backwards into the wall. Angelus laughed.
"Enough!" Buffy yelled. "We need to do something about this, something that doesn't make it worse."
"Of course," Giles agreed. He turned to Anya and Xander. "Did you find something further while we were out?"
"Well, we found more descriptions of the demon, but nothing new. It doesn't say much about his weapon, except that it splits people into two, which we already knew, and also that you can't kill one half without killing the other."
"Because they are still the same being," Xander filled in. He sighed deeply. "This means that we can't stake Angelus and be rid of his sorry ass…" His expression brightened. "Or we can kill Angelus, if Angel does the right thing and sacrifices himself for the greater good." He made two thumbs up. "Great karma," he tempted.
On rare occasions were the two egos in agreement – but this was one of those times. They both glared at Xander, who realized the danger of sticking his neck out, literally or figuratively, to Angelus and a pissed off Angel. He swallowed hard.
"Well, we'll just re-integrate them, right?" Willow said. "If we can just put him back the way he was, everything will be back to normal, right?" Anya shrugged.
"There's nothing in these texts that indicates how you can do that safely. It must be done correctly. There is a spell that is supposed to simply break the magic holding them apart, but it doesn't always work as it should. The two personalities tend to come back wrong…"
"Which would mean…?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I guess in Angel's case it could mean that Angelus takes over and the souled part of him gets suppressed." Buffy frowned. "I mean, we could try if you want," Anya continued. "But if that happens, I don't know how we will make it right." Buffy shook her head.
"No. Keep looking, there must be a safe way to do it." Angelus smiled. Now, this looked promising.
"The sooner the better," Buffy added, casting a glance at Angelus. "I want this settled as quickly as possible; the sooner Angel is back to normal the better."
"I don't think it's so bad," Angelus informed them.
"Of course not," Angel shot back. "It's all in your favor."
Angelus smirked while figuring out something to say that would upset the gang. As long as he had to suppress his want for physical violence, he would have to make-do with spinning their heads a little. Figuratively, unfortunately…
"You're all really keen on speaking in the terms of Angel and Angelus. The good, the bad. The moron, the demon. Well, to put this in a way you people will understand – your precious Angel is never a part of me. I, however, am always a part of him."
Angel advanced towards Angelus and pinned him roughly against the wall. Angelus just chuckled.
"You're right." Angel said. "The demon is a part of me. Maybe I should show you what it wants to do with you."
Angelus didn't even bother to break free from Angels grip, knowing that he was in no danger whatsoever as long as Buffy was in the room. She'd never risk him getting killed.
"Go ahead," he menaced. "What are you going to do? Stake me, set me on fire, beat me to a bloody pulp? Or, I know! You could snap my neck. Not that it'd kill me of course, but we all know how much you like that. Remember that you told Jenny that, right before you killed her?" Okay – that was a slight lie. He hadn't said until after Jenny was dead, but what the hell. It sounded better, and it wasn't like Angel was going to argue with him about that in front of everyone.
Giles suddenly flushed bright red as a wave of hate and memories washed over him.
"Stop it" Buffy screamed. "Separate corners, you two! Things are confusing enough without your bickering. Angel, you more than anyone should know your…his-whatever, mind games, don't let it get to you. For the evil version, I'm thinking chains until we can figure out what to do. Angelus watched her closely as she went through one of Giles miscellaneous boxes in search of shackles. He would cooperate, for the time being. He would have to, if he wanted his plan to unfold as he wanted. After all, good things come to those who wait…
Angel didn't look very happy with any of it – the situation in general and not being able to stake Angelus and be done with it. Not to mention the steady gaze his evil self was currently keeping on Buffy's back. Still, he turned away. He didn't want to make a fool of himself by acting like the more dangerous of the two, and he was far from sure that he could keep a lid on his anger if he said or did something.
Angelus glanced at Angel. He was cracking up. Withheld anger and frustration was tiring him out. That played in his favor. If Angel was tired and worn, he wouldn't sense his counterpart's feelings and changes in temperament as easily, which was a good thing. Angelus could only imagine the reaction if Angel learned about the piece of the weapon he had held onto. Well, he wasn't stupid. It was in his best interests to keep it secret, probably forever.
"Okay," Xander said when Angelus was chained in his chair, "intimate details of past murders are really the last thing we need. Considering the vibe in here I'm sure I'm not the only one that would vote for locking both of the menacing looking vampires in the training room and let them fight out their differences…" he stopped when said vampires glared at him once more and Buffy looked at him impatiently. "But," he continued "what can we do?"
Buffy spoke. "What would happen if we cursed him? Would he get a soul too?" She didn't address the question to anyone in particular and Xander was, as usual, the first person who spoke.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Not that I'm really a member of "The more Angels the merrier" club, but at least it's better than having the soulless version running around. Then, if we can't rejoin 'em, both Angels can skulk away and brood together for all eternity."
Willow ignored his comment. "No, I don't think so. When Angel is cursed, it's not just a soul that is summoned from the ether; it's the soul that belonged to Angel when he was human. There is just one, so the curse wouldn't work. My guess is that it either doesn't work at all, or possibly the soul will be summoned from Angel instead of the ether and insert it in Angelus. Which wouldn't really help us…"
"So we need to start looking for something what will rejoin them. Time for full research mode." Buffy didn't ask, she declared.
The phone rang and Giles picked up.
"Yes? Wesley, hello. Yes, we were expecting you to call, I suppose Angel left in a bit of a hurry this morning… Yes, there seems to be a situation here, involving Angel and, uh… Well, it's too much to explain over the phone, really. It would be quite of use to us if you and Cordelia could come up here as soon as possible. Yes, splendid." He hung up. "As you heard, that was Wesley. He's on his way here now, taking Cordelia and some other chap with him. We could use their help."
"You really could," Angelus said calmly, smiling and leaning back in his chair. "Can't imagine how you all survived this long being so retarded."
