CHAPTER 20: DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
When Angel awoke the next morning, it was to the sound of chirping birds just outside the bedroom window. A dulcet choir of pretty little birdies, he thought, shuddering at the memory. Turning his head slightly, he saw her lying there, curled up under the sheets, sleeping soundly. Yes, she actually was sleeping soundly – something as rare as that. She looked relaxed. At peace.
So it had happened. Just as he had predicted, one thing had led to another, and just like he thought, neither of them had the proper strength to avert it. Neither of them had done much at all to avert it, really. It had been… maybe something they both needed. Comfort. Loosening the tension. Something that put them in a very complicated situation…
Yes, it was his dream. Being with the woman he loved without having to worry about his soul – it was an incredible gift that he knew they both would have put to use considerably more eagerly if it had happened a year and a half ago. He couldn't wish for something else. In fact he didn't remember the last time he had felt this free, this relaxed, this human… well, as human as a vampire ever could be, the last time. Still, why couldn't he see anything besides the negative points, the risks?
When he sat up in the bed, he felt a pang of pain in the back of his head. The pain woke him up abruptly, sharpening all his senses. Pain never meant anything good. He moved away from Buffy slowly, careful not to wake her up as he dressed quickly and left the living room.
What could possibly give him a headache?
There were a number of perfectly natural reasons of course, but for some reason, this pain worried him. Maybe he was just overreacting. Maybe it was all the late brooding that had given him a headache… or maybe he had hit his head on some occasion, not remembering it. It felt like a slight hangover, which was strange – he hadn't been drinking at all.
He entered the kitchen, grabbing a plastic container of pig's blood from the fridge. He avoided a grimace as the aroma of it hit his sensitive sense of smell. It wasn't what he wanted, what his body and demon wanted, but he needed the nourishment. Maybe the blood would help with whatever caused the pain. He gulped down the thick liquid cold, trying not to taste it too well. When the cup was drained his demon roared for another type of substance – a more powerful sustenance, and his headache was still there, as splitting as ever.
Angel was seriously worried. Was something wrong with his curse? He could think of several possibilities – one was that he'd had a damned moment of happiness during the night and was about to loose his soul again… which was ridiculous. He couldn't, after all, his soul was supposed to be permanent. And besides, the pain when he lost his soul wasn't exactly almost-to-be-mistaken-for-a-hangover-small and timid. He should know, it had happened two times now.
Another possibility was that he should have lost his soul last night, had this clause free curse not been working out like it should. Maybe it was working against the change, and that was why he was in pain. That didn't make any sense though. Exactly what was it working against – this curse wasn't supposed to have any escape clauses. It was the theory, anyway. It wasn't like they'd had a lot of time to research it thoroughly this last week. Angel knew that he should feel guilty for possibly risking a moment of happiness while he still wasn't exactly sure what this new curse involved… but he didn't.
When he heard Buffy's light but hurried footsteps from the main room – she was looking for him – he threw away the empty blood contained, trying to maintain his cool and worry free façade. There was nothing to worry about, there couldn't be. He must have banged his head at one point or another during the night. He wasn't going to tell Buffy about it though, it was just unnecessary to worry her.
She entered the kitchen, her worried expression breaking into a smile when she saw him.
"Angel, there you are." I was worried when you weren't there the second time out of two possible – she didn't say it, but the thought was so obviously there. The day had begun well. He had already managed to frighten her…She walked up to him and hugged him quickly.
"How are you?" he asked just to have something to say, and to keep his mind off the nagging headache.
"I'm – I'm fine." She nodded as she released him. "You?"
"I'm good," he replied neutrally.
"Listen," she began, looking away, evidently mistaking the way he acted for guilt, "if you think I pushed things last night… if I was out of line… I'm sorry. It seemed like you were okay with it." She looked at him, a hint of innocent fear in her eyes. His mocking of their first time together, almost three years ago now, had left their trail.
"No, it's okay," he assured her. "Nothing… bad happened."
"Good." She smiled. There was a beat of silence before she cleared her throat to speak again.
"So… do you have plans today?" she asked, which was a pretty comical question. Had he had plans any other day when she needed him?
"Uh, no, not that I can think of. Why?"
"Well, it was Xander's idea really," she said, excusing her suggestion before she had even made it. "He thought that we should all head over to Giles, you know, just a little 'we're glad you feel better' thing. I mean, we all need to move on… it could be a good way to… mark the ending of all this."
Angel snorted.
"A tea party at Giles'? Is that what it really is, or are you arranging 'Horror of Angelus year 2000: The Reunion'?" Buffy looked at him and furrowed her brow.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm great. How are you yourself? You look a little worn, was it hard to keep up the pace tonight?"
"You-you don't think it's a good idea?" she asked in an unsteady voice, clearly smacked by his words.
"No, it's a great idea! Let's arrange a 'the Angelus war is over'-parade too, and don't forget to put placards on every post and pillar in town," he snapped.
"It's-it's not supposed to be like that," she said silently. "But if you don't want to, we don't have to do it."
"Sure, we'll go there," Angel muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "By the way, you really have improved since our first encounter in bed. Have you just matured, or was it your sleeping around with every college boy you met that gave you the much needed experience? Maybe it was all the training you had with the dearly departed farmboy."
Buffy stared at him, horror-struck, eyes wide open.
"What's wrong with you? Angel?" He stopped rubbing his head.
"Nothing. I'm fine. I'm just gonna go… take a shower."
What was that all about? Still shocked by his own words Angel closed the bathroom door behind him. What had he just said to her?
What he was planning to do was cover up for his unnecessary outburst about the gathering at Giles' by saying something nice and tasteful about last night. It was actually what he meant – but instead, it had some out like something that Angelus definitely would see fitting to say. Not that his inner demon was usually quiet – it was always in there, always lurking just beneath the surface, trying to affect him. But usually he never allowed any of it to sip through.
A part of Angel told him to go bad and apologize to Buffy, but a part of him simply said - pfft! Look at your power here, you say a few simple, not even mean words really, and she looks like you just beat her up and laughed at her. You're not the one to apologize.
Angel clutched his head. Okay, so that would be his inner Angelus talking, right? Because it simply couldn't be his own thoughts. A horrible thought crossed Angel's mind. What it this was the real him? Now that he was beginning to get over his first few days of dampening grief and guilt, what if the new real him was showing?
He had always had his soul forced on him, suppressing his demon, locking it down under the surface…Maybe his soul in the form of the original curse was covering the demon better than a completely integrated soul that wasn't there because of a hex that could be reversed. Maybe this was who he really was – like Angelus, just not quite as hackety-murdery. No, that couldn't be…
Or couldn't it? As a human, before became a vampire, he hadn't been God's best child. In fact, a few of the traits that made him-Angelus such a horrible creature had been there already when he was human, only in a less demonic way. The egoism, the dangerous charm to get his way, the lack of sympathy for practically anyone or anything, the remorseless use of people – women mostly when he was human – simply for his own amusement…
What if all that was attached just as much to his soul as his demon?
Worried, angry, upset and confused, Buffy paced around the kitchen. She didn't know what to make of him. Now, he hadn't lost his soul, she was sure of that. Almost sure of that. First of all, how could that happen? The curse was permanent, Willow had been sure.
Secondly, if that was Angelus… he must have mellowed in his old age. In fact, he hadn't exactly said anything that was obviously meant to hurt her… he was just more blunt and irritable than she could ever imagine Angel being.
Maybe nothing was wrong with him at all; maybe he was just in a bad mood. Everyone had those. She couldn't go off worrying about his soul every time they had an argument and he didn't treat her with kid gloves. If it only was that simple, every time the a guy hurt you, he's lost his conscience, Buffy thought. No, feelings were more complicated than that.
Still, Angel wasn't exactly Joe Normal. He was a vampire, whose soul was the only thing separating him from his demonic not-so-pleasant self. They didn't know nearly as much about his new curse as they should. They would have to ask Giles to take a look at it this afternoon.
Buffy exited the kitchen after a quick look in the fridge, where she found herself making the delicate choice between pig's blood and – pig's blood. Maybe she wasn't so hungry after all. Instead she sat down on the couch in the main room, waiting for Angel.
When Angel finally returned from his shower, Buffy was still sitting there not knowing what else to do. She didn't want to leave Angel alone, but there wasn't that much to do for her in the mansion. She could definitely remember why she had wanted to move a few of her things here last spring. Last spring, when they were still a couple. She swallowed. Which they weren't anymore.
When Angel entered the room, Buffy's gaze was instantly drawn downwards, more precisely, to his choice in pants.
"Why are you wearing those?" she asked hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. He looked down at his black leather pants.
"What? Oh. I know, but I didn't have anything else clean. He sat down beside Buffy and smiled his usual friendly, soulful smile. A smile that made her melt from the inside out like ice-cream in a hot day, wondering how she could even have thought of Angelus as a possibility a few minutes ago.
"Don't worry. I can assure you that my soul isn't attached to baggy cotton pants." Buffy nodded and smiled back at him. Angel wasn't usually so witty and outspoken, but there was really no question whether it was him. Of course it was.
There were a number of possible reasons to why he was acting a little different than usual. Maybe he was simply relieved that he didn't have to worry about his curse any more. Or maybe it was his way to deal with the guilt – after all she wouldn't know. The last time he had been re-ensouled, she had sent him to hell right away, even before he'd recovered his memories. If he wanted to wear leather pants, who was she to argue? Just because it had been Angelus' trademark… well, like he said, it wasn't like his soul status was determined by his clothes. And he didn't exactly look bad in them either, so hey, what was she complaining about?
"So, how do you feel about meeting all the guys later? I mean, I guess you've met them all after…" she trailed off. "But not, you know, in a socializing tea-drinking-together way." He leaned backwards and put one leg over the other. The pants creaked slightly.
"No problem. Don't forget Buffy, I have done this before."
"Right, I know." She looked at him silently. He was fiddling with something, something that looked like a tiny piece of metal, or maybe it was well polished wood.
"What is that?" He looked up at her.
"What? Oh, it's nothing." He reached for his coat and put the knickknack in his pocket. "Nothing," he assured her. When he fell silent again, Buffy didn't know what to do. Not that he was ever that much of a talker, but this was laughable.
"Do you want me to leave you alone or anything? Maybe you want to brood alone…" Buffy said with a smile, partly joking. Partly not.
"Nah." Angel shook his head. "I'm good. I just don't feel particularly inclined to brood at the moment."
"Oh." She frowned. "Okay." Angel smiled – or was it more of a smirk? God, Buffy thought, she was really more affected than she thought. Next to her sat Angel, soul intact – wearing leather pants and not being his usually brooding self, but still, it was him. She shook of the unpleasant feeling.
"Angel?" He looked at her. "There is something… um… I want to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"Where do we go from here?" She looked at him, trying to read his expression. So there it was. The question that had lingered for days. Even more so now… after what had happened between them.
"I thought you said we were going over to Giles'," he quipped. She felt her cheeks flush a bright shade of pink.
"Yeah, I mean… you know, about us. You and I."
"Ah." He nodded. "I thought about that too." There was a beat of silence before he continued. "How about, this time around we skip the whole I nag on you, you nag on me part, and cut right to the chase. What do you want? Do you want me to stick around for a while, or leave?"
Buffy stared incredulously at him. She wasn't sure she understood what he had just said. All the worse, he wasn't sure he understood it either.
"Um… I… I'm not sure. I mean, what do you want?" Angel leaned towards her, softly caressing her cheek with his hand. She barely kept from wincing under his touch. What was this? Everything was fine, and still her Slayer senses were on high alert. Was this some sort of delayed reaction to everything that had happened with Angelus?
"You know I never wanted to leave you in the first place," he whispered. "Now that my soul's not a problem anymore… If you want me to stay… see in which direction things are going… then I'm not the one to argue against it." Buffy put her hand over his, his coolness shooting through her, sending chills down her spine. Even though she was confused, she could feel the emotions that had been buried for so long now surge with new life. She was falling, falling headlong under his passionate gaze. She felt herself nod slightly.
"Okay," she whispered.
"Good." They shared a smile, but inwards Buffy was still worried.
This was all very awkward.
"So, do you think you can check it out?" Buffy glanced at Angel and the others – Xander, Anya, Willow, Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn, who were all sitting in Giles' living room. And Spike, who had showed up just a little while ago. He had blamed the fact that Passions was on tonight and that his TV was broken, but Buffy wasn't sure what to make of him. Why was he hanging around? He didn't even like any of them. Frankly, she didn't have the energy to try to understand him. She already had one vampire whose actions were spinning her head.
When Giles walked off to prepare tea for everyone she had taken the opportunity to talk to him in private. Talk to him – and ask him to research Angel's new curse. Angel seemed to get along well with the others out there. He was actually sitting down, not standing in a dark corner like usual.
"Of course," Giles said, glancing at her. "May I ask, is there any special reason that you want me to do this right now?"
"Not really," she said vaguely. "It's just – I want to be sure. I mean, we really don't want to find out about any escape clauses in the violent and shocking way, if you know what I mean." Again, she added in thought.
"No, I agree," Giles said, turning his gaze back to the tray filled with cups and a plate with cookies. The subject was a sensitive one, and Buffy understood him. Angelus had almost killed Giles both times around, and now the same vampire was sitting comfortably in his couch. It wasn't easy to adjust to.
"Should I carry something?" she said, almost as if wanting to do him something in return after putting him through so much. He smiled a little.
"You can take the teapot, if you don't mind." Buffy picked up the pot, took point and headed into the living room.
She entered just in time to see Angel laugh at one of Xander's jokes. Angel, laughing, at one of Xander's jokes? What was wrong with that picture? She studied the others, trying to see if she could read any doubt or distrust on their faces. Was she just imagining, or was Spike looking at Angel very suspiciously? She'd remember to ask him. She put the pot down on the table and sat down lightly next to Angel. He stretched out and put one arm on the backrest behind her.
Buffy noticed everyone's glances. Was she that easy to read? It was as if everyone in the room already knew that something had happened between her and Angel at some point between now and last night. Something that just might have revived old feelings and habits that most of them would rather see buried. What was it, written in her forhead? In Spike's glance she read something else. He was jealous. Jealous of what, of Angel?
"So, when are you guys going back to L.A.?" Xander asked while keeping his glance on Buffy and Angel. Buffy looked away.
"I'm not sure," Cordelia answered him. "But soon, I hope." She shot Angel a glare.
"Well, actually…" he began.
"What?" Xander frowned. "What's with the actually?" Okay, so he had been the one personally telling Angel to stay as long as Buffy was grieving, but she seemed better now, and he really didn't want him around too long. He couldn't possibly see anything good come out of that.
"Angel is thinking of staying in Sunnydale for a while," Buffy said. Angel smiled at her.
"Really?" Xander asked, interested – but not surprised. He sipped his tea. "And why is that?"
"Well, you know. We have a few things to explore," Angel smiled. "Now that, because of my new and improved curse, our relationship doesn't require that Buffy becomes a nun."
Xander choked on his tea and started to cough.
"Okay, I think my lungs… have tea," he said, still recovering. Buffy looked surprised at Angel's outspokenness, Willow blushed, Cordelia, Spike and Gunn glared at Angel suspiciously, Wesley looked away and took a gulp of hot tea, Giles cleaned his glasses and Anya simply nodded.
"What the hell are you talking about? And what do you mean 'relationship'?" he continued angrily as soon as he could speak properly again.
"Uh-oh." Angel quipped. "I think we need to get a copy of 'The Idiots Guide to Vampiric Sex' so Xander can keep up." Xander glared at him, at a loss for words. Well, this had gone horribly wrong. He had spoken to Angel to help Buffy, yes, but not to help her get laid!
"I understand," Anya cut in. "Relationships without lots of sex are hard. Ask me. One time, Xander and I didn't have sex for two whole nights – I thought I was gonna have to break up with him but then…."
"Anya! You know, we have talked about private conversations? And how they're less private in front of other people?" Xander hissed between clenched teeth.
Angel chuckled, which sent chills down everyone's spines. That wasn't really a sound anyone associated with the souled alterego. Buffy looked at him, seriously worried what was going on.
"Not that I would complain if Buffy became a nun," he said, still smiling. "Really. I like nuns. And while we're on the subject, how did the Flying Nun fly anyway? Was it God, or magic?" Everyone looked at him. "What? You think about these things sometimes," he shrugged.
"Of course," Anya continued, "before Xander got his own place it was even worse." She looked at Angel.
"He was living in his drunken parent's musty basement where something urinated on the hotplate. And every Wednesday his mother washed white clothes and the bleach made me nauseous. It was awful; we couldn't have sex at all on Wednesdays because of that. Since then I've come to the conclusion that peroxide and sexual intercourse just doesn't work out."
Angel chuckled again. "I guess that explains why dear old Spike always has had some problems getting it up," he smirked, bringing his grandchilde into the conversation.
"Hey!" he exclaimed in his 'bloody hell, you just stepped on my manhood'-voice. "This coming from the tall dark and dreary that can't get some without maybe going crazy? That's rich." Angel's face hardened and he clenched his hands into fists. Spike fell silent. Something in his grandsire's gaze told him that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be too abundant with the smart comments tonight. Angel rubbed the back of his head. Wesley decided to speak up.
"Angel, are you feeling all right?" Angel snapped his head up and looked at Wesley.
"Sure. Why wouldn't I?" Wesley looked at everyone in the room, as if to see if they had noticed it too. They most certainly had, but what were they going to say? He continued, fumbling.
"Well, tonight you've seemed… a little more happy than usual. Not as guilt stricken, one might say. A little less like Angel and more like… uh… like…" Angel looked at Wesley in doubt, shrugging.
"Maybe I just figured out that when you have eternal life, there's no point in wasting it sitting around and brooding all the time. You gotta live a little. Even when you're dead," he punned.
"I think what Wesley is implying is, did you happen do loose your soul, again?" Anya said in her usual blunt way. Angel stared at her, suddenly dead serious, a worried look on his face.
"What? NO. Of course not. And besides, how could I? Willow said that the new curse was permanent." He shrugged, seeming to let the troubled thought slip. "Besides, if it ever happened, you'd know it. If I was Angelus, the half of you would already be dead, just for the fun of it."
They all looked at each other. Something was seriously wrong, but none of them could figure out what it was. Spike looked at him. He still had the soul, he was sure of that, but something was up.
"Could something be wrong with the soul curse thing?" Gunn said simply, asking the question that they all wondered.
"What do you mean, wrong?" Angel snapped. "I'm fine."
"Really not," Cordelia shook her head.
"It doesn't make any sense. The curse isn't supposed to have any loopholes, I checked it," Willow said, looking unhappy. Could she have made a mistake somewhere?
"There's no mistake," Angel denied, obviously trying to convince himself as much as the others.
"Well, say whatever you want peaches, I'd say you're beginning to loose it," Spike said casually, putting his legs on Giles coffee table. "Today we might have the Buffy-whipped Angelus, but as we all now, that tends to change quickly when you two are together."
Before he had time to even consider if he might have been a little too outspoken he found himself being lifted from his chair and pinned to the wall several feet behind it. Angel had gotten up and attacked him without a single warning. No one had even seen him move.
"What the hell are you saying, boy?" he hissed, pressing Spike back against the wall.
"Get your bloody hands off of me!" Spike wriggled aggressively, but he stood no chance against the stronger and larger vampire. He dangled helplessly several inches above ground, trying to get in position to give the bastard a good lick between the legs with his boot, but he was too far down.
"Maybe I should just rip your head off, rip it right off your body," Angel snarled and made a motion to actually do it. "'Cause I don't have anything against that."
"Angel!" Buffy shouted and ran up to him. "Angel, get off him!" Angel's first instinct was to smack Buffy over the head and shove her away so that he could continue attending to his insolent grandchilde, but something stopped him. Instead, his eyes softened and he let Spike go.
Buffy looked at him, both angry and worried. "Sit down!" she ordered, giving him no opportunity to complain. He did as he was told. The predator in him was still roaring, screaming at him to satisfy it by killing something. He was actually worried. What was happening to him? He sat down in the couch.
"Angel, what is going on with you?" Cordelia asked, arms crossed over her chest. She was worried too, he could see it.
"I… I don't know." He clutched his head in pain. Xander gulped.
"Guys… Please tell me that we're NOT witnessing another soul-lossage!"
"I am not loosing my soul!" Angel yelled in frustration and fear, causing Xander to wince and move closer to Anya. "Sorry…" he continued. "I just don't feel right. I've had a headache since this morning and I feel… angry." Angry wasn't the right word for it. How he felt, the type of feral anger and lightheartedness he had felt all day… he couldn't tell them that.
Giles looked at him, a little paler than before. He threw a quick glance at Gunn, who had a crossbow loaded and ready, his healthy hand tightly wrapped around it. He wasn't sure if it was comforting that even one of Angel's own friends was ready to take drastic measures to protect them if things got out of hand, or if it should worry him that a friend and co-worker of Angel's had a lethal weapon ready when he met with the boss. "This pain, how would you, er, describe it?"
"Like…" Yeah, how would he describe it? He had been thinking about that himself the whole day. "I guess it is a little like the times I've lost my soul, only not as strong." No, not as strong. Not at all.
"God, you didn't get groiny already!" Cordelia exclaimed. Buffy turned bright red.
"Is that important?" she said meekly. Cordelia frowned.
"You need to work on your confidence inspiring denials," she declared. "You two are like bunnies." Cordelia shook her head.
"But the curse is permanent," Buffy said. "He CAN'T loose his soul through happiness." Wesley held up the Kalderash book.
"I suppose we need to take a closer look at this new spell," he suggested. "Angel, you're the one that has the greatest knowledge in the Romanian language, could you look through it and save us some time?"
"Yeah, I guess you all wouldn't appreciate if I went for a stroll anyway, would you?" They didn't have to answer him. "Right."
While Angel read, they were all quiet. Spike was the first one to break the silence.
"Slayer, you okay?" This was an unusually friendly question for Spike, and everyone looked at him. Angel stopped reading and glanced intensively at Spike for a moment.
"Fingering on my goods, are you Spike? Guess you never could leave my girls alone." Spike didn't meet his gaze, well aware that another fight with Angel wouldn't do him any good.
"Your goods? That how you look at her now?" he muttered simply. Angel shook his head and continued to read.
"Okay, here it is, a description of the spell," Angel said. He translated the text as he read it.
"As the soul is summoned from the ether by the dark gods, it will be stored in the magician until it can be transferred. The life force of the magician will be used to permanently give the beast its conscience. As the right words are spoken, the soul will pierce the heart of the demon and the life force of the magician will burn out. He will give his life for the vengeance, because this is necessary to ensure that the demon will go on feeling remorse."
It took a few seconds for everyone to process what Angel had just read.
"Let me get this straight," Cordelia said at last. "The spell is not working correctly, because Willow didn't 'die for the vengeance'? That's just lame!"
Everyone was quiet for a few moments.
"Of course," Wesley said silently. "It's very clear. It's not that easy to restore souls. If it was, one could alter the spell and curse every single vampire – there is a price. In the case of Angel's original curse, the price is that the soul isn't permanent. It is a punishment, meant to cause you suffering, not a gift. In this case, it is… that the person that performs the spell… must die." Wesley was quiet for a second before he continued. "Of course, when the Kalderash cursed Angelus, they wanted the alternative that would make sure that he could never stop suffering."
Giles got up and started pacing around the room. "This is bad news. I trust you all understand that. You too Angel. Because Willow didn't die after the ritual, you soul is all else than permanent. In fact, I think it's safe to say that the curse is already collapsing. You are in fact loosing your soul, but it takes some time because the curse is not simply broken. It's reversing."
"What does that mean?" Xander asked.
"I think it means that we will be dealing with Darth Vampire again very soon," Gunn said shaking his head.
Angel looked at Giles. "But I'm still me – when will I change, if what you're saying is true?"
"I suspect you will change gradually. In fact, you ARE changing gradually. The soul is slipping away. I guess we won't be dealing with the true Angelus until it's totally gone, though." Angel stared at him incredulously.
"And when will that be?" Angel felt his frustration growing. That, and his anger. Usually when his demon roared inside, it didn't take too much effort to shut it up and push it down again. It didn't work this time. He felt like someone was ripping him apart inside, the purest essence of Angelus rattling his cage and roaring so loudly that he could hardly concentrate on Giles' words. And he wasn't sure for how long he would be able to keep his behavior in check.
"I don't know. We will have to read the book more thoroughly…"
"No, just forget about this," Angel snapped. He threw the book aside and got up from the couch. Ripping his coat from its hanger, he slipped it on and disappeared outside into the night.
"Angel, wait!" Buffy shouted, ready to run after him. Giles stopped her with a light hand on her shoulder.
"I don't think it's of any danger to leave him be yet, Buffy. I think he might need some time to himself. But, before he becomes more hostile, we will have to contain him better."
"Can't I just curse him again, with the original curse?" Willow asked, feeling guilty for what had happened. She wanted to do something, help to make everything right again.
Giles glanced at the door where Angel had just left. Exactly what all this meant, he didn't know, and still everyone seemed to turn to him for answers. This was only one of the things he feared when Willow started doing spells that she wasn't powerful enough to master. If something went wrong, she didn't have the right knowledge and experience to know what do to make it right again.
"I don't think that will work until his soul is completely missing and in the ether once more," he said finally.
And they all knew what that meant. Unless they found some way to avert it, some way around it…
They would have to face Angelus again.
