A/N: Hey guys. Thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed last chapter. RedsLover03 and Petra, I guess you guys will just have to wait and see what happens! Lol. Slayer rock chick, I dunno. I had kind of been planning to put Karen and Angel together at first, but I'm not sure now that I think about it. I guess Angel will decide that for himself this chappie, or soon. BA Shipper, those are some great ideas and I loved them all! Sadly though, I all ready have an idea for how I'm going to pull this off, I just have to get it written! Lol. But I do greatly appreciate your input! Thank you so much!
Chapter 8: PlanningThe next day at school, Karen was distracted all day. She was worried about Angel. As soon as her last class was out she rushed to the library.
"Giles, there's uh... something… I have to go do. Bye!" she said, and rushed out past the Scoobies as they went in.
"Woah, where's the fire?" Xander asked. Giles merely shook his head.
"She said she had something to do. But I think all of you need to hear this…"
"We heard, Giles," Cordelia said. "Willow told us."
"Yes, quite." Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them.
"Well though, I have been thinking of a plan. You see, since we have an invitation right here… Well, Angel could go in undercover and hopefully none of the other vampires would recognize him. Karen or Faith, possibly both, could go as his dates. Again, hopefully, none of the vampires will notice they are the slayers." Giles set his glasses back on.
"Yes well, we need to get Buffy and bring her back here. I think… Well, Willow, could you do the soul restoration spell on her?"
Willow nodded. "Yeah of course, Giles. When?"
"Before we go to bring her back," Giles said. Wesley walked out of Giles's office in time to hear what Giles said.
"Bring who back?" he questioned the group.
"All right. I'll get the ingredients and do it tomorrow," Willow nodded. "I'll go now."
"Good, we only have three days," Giles said.
"Three days till what?" Wesley asked as Willow and Oz left the library.
"Anything we can do?" Xander asked, eager to help get his best friend back.
"Yes, we need to research to see if this has ever been done before," Giles said. Xander groaned, but he and Cordelia sat down and began to look through the books sitting on the table. Wesley came and sat as well, sighing.
"What are we looking for?"
Giles looked at him, unsure, then let out a sigh of his own. "To see if any previous slayers have been turned," he answered.
Wesley stared at him, the wheels in his head turning. "Buffy was turned into a vampire?" he asked. Giles nodded. Wesley tensed. For a moment, Giles feared he would run off to call the council, which was the last thing they needed right now, but instead Wesley pulled a book to him.
"I suppose the council doesn't need to know… After all, they're probably looking for Faith in China by now…" he muttered. Giles let out a breath of relief as the four began to research.
Buffy stretched as she awoke. Then she felt something next to her… Or more like… someone. Buffy looked over to see Spike sleeping next to her still. His arms were wrapped around her, and hers were around him. She had a leg thrown over him as well. Gasping, she began to scramble away from him, but his arms tightened around her, preventing her from getting away. Buffy froze. Was he awake? She looked at his face. His eyes were closed, and he was making no further moves. She was sure that if he were awake, he'd have at least said something by now. She leaned towards his ear.
"Spike, I'll be right back, ok?" she murmured.
He mumbled something, but she couldn't quite catch it. Slowly she disentangled herself from his embrace and crept out of the room. Once she had shut the door behind her, she ran to her own and curled into a little ball on her bed.
"My God…" she said to herself, holding a pillow tight to her chest. "What did I do?"
Once she had shut the door and run off, Spike opened his eyes with a look of sadness in them. He had hoped she wouldn't do that once she woke up. He had tried to get her to stay, but he knew she wanted out. So he let her. He sighed in frustration and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. But still… he was getting closer. And he supposed that was the important part. After all, they had all the time in the world… Or so he thought…
Karen opened the door to Angel's mansion as she crept inside.
"Angel?" she called out, but no one answered her but her own echoing voice.
She went in the house further until she reached his bedroom door. Slowly bringing her hand up from her side, she let it rest on the doorknob for a moment before turning it. She stuck her head inside, and saw Angel lying with his back to the door on the far side of his bed. Slowly and quietly, she slipped into the room and shut the door behind her. Just as the door shut, Angel spoke.
"What are you doing here?" Karen jumped at the unexpected voice.
"I-I just wanted to see if you were all right," she managed to get out.
Angel sat up and turned to look at her. "Karen, I just found out that a vampire, one of my own like no less, has turned Buffy, the girl I love," his expression was pained. Karen shrunk back as he said the last five words, but Angel didn't seem to notice as he carried on.
"So no, I'm not all right," he said. Karen stared at him for a second, before shaking her head, as if to rid her mind of something.
"Well, is there anything I could do to help?" she moved to sit next to him on the bed.
Angel shook his head. "Not really. I think I just need to be alone right now."
"But Angel-" he cut her off.
"Karen, I really just want to be alone."
Karen looked at him, tears prickling the back of her eyes, threatening to come to the forefront. She got up and hurriedly left the room and the mansion.
What was I thinking? she thought to herself as the tears began to fall. I'm so stupid. I mean, what did I expect anyway? I should have known. He's in love with her, not me. He barely even sees me as a friend… her mind was in chaos as she wandered off into the late afternoon.
Willow has the spell set up and started. "Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum! Acum!" ("So shall it be! So shall it be! Now! Now!") she shouts the last words of the spell. The orb starts to gather a glow, but before it gets bright at all, it suddenly falters, and dies. Willow looks confused.
"That's not what's supposed to happen… I think…" she trailed off.
"What?" Giles asked.
"Well, that's not what it did last time. So either it didn't work last time, or... it didn't work now…" no one had ever asked Angel if the spell had worked or not, and he had never told, so they had no way to be sure.
Giles thought this information over. "Well… it would seem that given the situation, I suppose we will just have to take our chances and hope that it worked this time."
Xander nodded and spoke from his seat at the table. "Even if it doesn't… couldn't we like, I dunno, pretend Angel lost his to get her to go with him so he can get her here? And we have two slayers. We could get her here, right? Then cage her till Wills can get the spell to work."
Giles blinked. "I think the end of the world is upon us," he muttered. Then heaved a sigh. "I agree with Xander," he cringed as he said the words. Xander's head whipped around to look at Giles and his mouth opened to speak, but Wesley interrupted.
"So should we plan how we are going to carry through with this plan? After all, there are just two days to plan. Today is all ready Thursday."
Giles nodded in agreement. "Yes. Once the sun goes down, Faith, Karen, and Angel should be arriving. We can start the planning then." The others nodded their agreement. "Until then, let's continue researching for previous cases of this," he said as he sat at the table and opened a book, the other, Xander with his obligatory complaints, followed suit.
"Uhh.. I think this is it," Oz said, looking up from his book. Everyone else looked up at him, so he looked back at the book and began to read.
"In 1563, the current slayer, Anne Hathworth, was turned by master vampire Thomas Wellington. A week after her supposed death, she turned up at the door of her watcher's, John Belford's, house. She looked as though she had been tortured for weeks. He refused to invite her in, because of her vampire status, but soon it became apparent something was wrong, that she still had her soul. He took her in and cared for her, but soon Thomas was back for her, and his unstopping attempts to get her back before he was staked by John contributed to her later unavoidable insanity."
Oz looked up again as he finished.
"Uh… wow," Xander said, for once with no lame joke.
"Y-yes. Quite," Giles began to polish his glasses.
Suddenly, the two slayers entered through the libraries main doors. Faith was jumpy, as always, and Karen seemed rather dazed.
"So, what's the what ,watcher-man?" Faith asked Giles.
He stared at her for a moment, before deciding to just let the name slide in light of the situation. "We found reference to another slayer being turned. Apparently, she kept her soul, and later went insane. I'm not entirely sure why though…" he trailed off.
"Probably because of the demon inside of her. It would have conflicted with her soul," Angel said as he appeared from the stacks. Giles nodded.
"Yes, that's probably it."
"Hey, do you think maybe that's why the spell didn't work? Because Buffy all ready has her soul?" Willow asked.
"Yes, Willow that's it! Well, that does make this easier to get her back then…" Giles said.
Karen kept looking at Angel, but no one noticed. She was still hurt from the day before at the mansion.
"So, how are we to do this Saturday night?" Wesley asked the group.
Everyone thought over the question.
"Well, we all ready know Angel's going, now who's his date gunna be? Faith or Karen?" Cordelia said. "And, they need clothes," she added, forever Queen C.
"That is a good point. Not the… well, ok… maybe the clothes as well, but who will go in with Angel?"
Angel shook his head. "Not Karen or Faith. If anything I go alone. But they'll be expecting someone if anyone recognizes me, which is much more likely because of… last year."
"Why can't it be one of us?' Faith demanded.
"They'll smell you. They'll known you're the slayers," Angel responded. "It would ruin the entire plan."
"They can smell that?" Faith asked in amazement. Angel nodded.
"Well then, who's it gunna be?" Xander asked. Everyone looked around the room at everyone else.
"Well, the only other women in the room are Cordelia and Willow, so they would be the logical choices," Wesley said. Willow looked terrified, and even Cordelia seemed a bit scared.
"We cannot send them in! they're defenseless!" Giles objected.
"Actually, Willow's a great witch. She could defend herself," Cordelia tried to get out of it. "Me though? I'm completely helpless. Totally vulnerable," she nodded her head to emphasize her point. Willow looked at her in horror.
"No," Angel spoke up. "I'll just go alone. Or Faith or Karen could go with me, and we can hope no one notices."Giles sighed. "I suppose we'll have to since there's really no other option."
Suddenly, Oz spoke up. "I've got an idea," he said. Everyone looked at him. "How about we try this…"
Once Oz had explained his plan, the others nodded. "That just might work," Giles said.
"Sounds good," Xander sat back.
"Well people, let's get to work!" Faith said.
A/N: Hey guys. I know this was a Sunnyhell oriented chappie, though it should have been Spuffy to fit the pattern, but I needed to get the gang's planning and all that happened in here in, and really the next part I need for Spuffiness is when the gang all meets up again. Sooo… yeah. And I just realized this chapter that I've had none of the Giles/Angel tension really, and Xander and Cordelia really aren't supposed to be together because of the Xander/Willow stuff, buuuuut… Well, I like them together, and the Angel/Giles would just be… more drama. I think the Spike/Buffy/Angel/Karen bit is enough. No need to throw Giles in there. But hope you all liked this chappie! And it seems that Angel doesn't want to be with Karen… For now at least. Who knows? He may change his mind. I don't know! These guys write themselves! Lol. What do you guys think I should try for? But anywho, as always, review please! Next is the party!