Angel pulled down the heavy office blinds against the remains of the day. He kicked back in his chair and watched silently as a golden finger of dying light filtered back into the room.
It cut across the floor and tiny specks of dust danced in the beam. What if he reached out? Stretched his hand out and touched the light? He wanted to, he wanted to more than anything, and suddenly he was desperate.
He wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on his flesh, to be a dancing speck of dust. Oh there had been a moment, a brief moment. A micro-lifetime, when his body had been his own again, but like all things that could bring him pleasure, it had not lasted. Putting that recent memory aside, he thought about how long it had really been since he had been in the sun, he, himself, his fathers' son. The answer was two hundred and something years.
He'd tried to stop counting after his bicentennial.
He sat up in the chair and reached out his right arm, closer, closer. He was now inches away from the beam and already he could feel its heat. The sleeves on his black shirt were rolled up to the elbows and the muscles in his forearm tensed against him. The tiny hairs on his arm began to smoke imperceptibly. It would burn, it would burn like hell, and he of all people should know. How much flesh could he safely expose before he would burst completely into flames? What was he doing, what was he thinking?
He heard the door to the office open and spun around in his chair, he hadn't been expecting company. Wesley and Cordelia were gone for day and he had been enjoying the quiet introspection. "Buffy!" he exclaimed and leapt to his feet, the chair hit the wall behind him with a thump and he quickly rolled his shirt sleeve back down over the singed hairs of his forearm.
"Hey Angel." She said softly.
A billion and one thoughts raced through his mind what was wrong, what had happened and what had suddenly brought her to him out of the blue? He felt exposed, awkward. Their last meeting had not gone well; things had been said. Things that had yet to be fully resolved, but here she was, and she was smiling at him and all he could think was how much he loved her. He tried to play it cool, "What brings you to L.A?" the words sounded false even as they left his mouth "Again." He finally added.
She was still smiling. Her golden hair hung loosely around her face, framing her smile. She moved smoothly across the room toward him, there was only a desk between them. She wore black. Tight black. Angel swallowed. He was over two hundred years old but here was a woman that could make him as nervous as a schoolboy. Buffy could not look bad in anything, but this top, those trousers…every curve of her slender body was accentuated by their fit. Light reflected back from her in all the right places. He wondered briefly if he was dreaming, but he knew he wasn't. In the same way that he knew he wasn't completely human; in the same way he knew he would love Buffy Summers until the end of days; he knew that this was real; real, but nonsensical. "Riley…"she started, Angel frowned "It's over between us." She continued and he relaxed slightly "If it ever truly started. You left me Angel, you left me and you hurt me. But I can't stop loving you and I can't keep pretending that I don't care. I have to be with you."
Angel sat back down in his chair. This was sudden, this was fast, this was… "Impossible." He told her "You know it is. We can't be together, it's too painful, too dangerous."
And then she was around the side of the desk and she was crouching at his feet and his hands were in hers and she was looking deep into his eyes, into his tortured soul "We can." And he noticed there were tears shining on her cheeks "There is a way."
"No." and he dropped her hands.
They'd been down this path before and he'd finally learnt (even if it had taken over two centuries) that if it seemed too good to be true, then it usually was. Usually. This was his place, his office, his city and he wasn't going to repeat the same old mistakes in this setting. He was a vampire and nothing could change that. Gypsies had restored his soul and now he was repaying his demonic debt by helping the helpless on the dark fierce streets of Los Angeles, nothing would change that. He had friends here, colleagues, and he did what had to be done and while life wasn't exactly great, it was acceptable, tolerable. And that was how he wanted it to stay. One moment of perfect happiness and everything they had worked so hard to restore, would be undone. It had happened before and it could happen again. The thing he had been before, Angelus, still lurked within him and he was not prepared to ever let it out. Buffy was the one sure thing that could make Angelus rise. One girl in all the world, with the strength and the skill to hunt the vampires, and he loved her. He had journeyed through lifetimes to find her, only to learn that what they had between them could kill.
She stood up "Yes," she said simply "Giles has found a way."
"Giles?" the mention of Buffy's watcher, the stoic Englishman, penetrated through his defences.
If anyone could find a solution, a cure, it would be Giles the ex-Librarian. Buffy took his hand and Angel rose from his seat, she started to lead him towards the lift that led down to his windowless apartment "Trust me Angel. This time it's forever."
From the office to the bedroom was a journey he did not remember. Reasoning and judgement were things he abandoned the moment she stood on tiptoes and kissed him. He kissed her back, forcing open her mouth with his tongue and tasting her deeply. His hands reached around her back, smoothing their way up her sides and feeling her shiver under his caresses. It smelt like Buffy, it tasted like Buffy and it felt like Buffy. By applying the same logic that he had initially used to push her away he now reasoned that if all these things were true then it had to be Buffy. She asked for his trust and he gave it. But not without reserve. Angel broke the kiss first and they both gasped slightly for air "Giles," he started "Don't we need Giles here?"
Buffy, more beautiful than he had ever remembered, pressed a perfectly manicured finger to his lips "It's done. I'm here, you're here. I'm doing it right now. Giles has done his part, I am doing my part and, in a moment, you will do yours. We're together Angel, nothing bad can happen, I promise." and she took his hands and pressed them to her face, kissing the palms, and then moved them lower until he could feel her heartbeat and the swell of her breasts.
He moaned softly and she moved into him. Together they sank onto the bed. He lay back, feeling her moving above him, the strength in her legs squeezing around his hips. He had to make a decision, and he had to base it solely on trust. If he stopped this now, waited to confirm it with Giles, went against her words and checked that this was all real, then she would be hurt. Angry. An angry Slayer is not something a vampire wants to deal with, soul or no soul. Then her hands were at the waistband of his trousers, and as he felt them loosen, he made his choice.
They lay on Angel's bed, side by side, hardly daring to touch each other. He leaned over and kissed the hollow at the base of her throat, inhaling her sweet perfume and conscious of the fact that he was seeing her naked for only the third time in his long, long life. Age had made him a patient lover, but as her fingers encircled his hardness, it took all of his strength to keep holding back for her. His tongue traced a line from her neck down to a breast and flicked across the surface of a nipple. Murmurs escaped her and he couldn't restrain himself any longer. He slid gently, oh so gently, into her smooth silkiness and gave himself up completely. As his body stiffened in the final throes of their pleasure, he heard her mutter one single, terrifying word "Angelus…"
Angel felt the pain begin in his extremities. He rolled off the bed and lay on the floor, curled up into a ball this is not a good sign he thought in desperation and fought to stand up. Buffy was gone. "Buffy." He called, wincing.
"BUFFY!" this time it was a scream.
Then he felt it. The internal separation. The eternal damnation.
And the undeniable urge to kill.
The pale pink early morning sunlight filtered through the blinds in Cordelia' s apartment. Beside the bed, an alarm clock began to beep softly. It stopped almost immediately as an unseen hand reached out and turned it off. The same invisible hands folded down the top of the bed covers as Cordelia sat up, stretched and yawned. It took a special kind of person to share their home with a ghost, but then it also took a special kind of ghost to live with Cordelia Chase, the now somewhat fluffier-around-the-edges superbitch from Sunnydale. "Good morning phantom Dennis." she addressed the unseen presence breezily as she climbed out of bed and made her way to the kitchen for a caffeine intake.
She switched on the radio and perched at the kitchen counter, grasping a steaming mug of coffee. She felt a brief flicker of pain behind her eyelids, but even as she registered what it meant, she was too late to prevent the mug from dropping and smashing on the floor, spraying her legs with its scalding contents.
On each splinter of pain that pierced her skull, Cordelia saw images that burned her brain…
…Buffy kissing Angel…
…Angel and Buffy fucking…
…Angel with his vampire face…
…Buffy…
…Angel…
…Angelus…
"Oh God!" she screamed, in fear of what she had seen and in pain from the red blisters rising on the naked flesh of her legs, "God no!"
Her whole body was shaking violently and somehow, during the course of the blinding migraine vision, she had fallen from the stool. She tried to crawl her way across the floor to the telephone, but pain and fear slowed her down. Phantom Dennis, even in his deceased state, was especially sensitive to Cordelia's needs, and always did his best to help her when she was distressed. The phone was lifted from the main set and seemingly floated across the room to where she lay. Her ghostly protector pressed the phone into her hand and she punched in the number of the one person she knew could help her, that she wanted to come and save her. An out-of-service tone emanated from the handset and she burst into tears as she remembered that Doyle, funny Irish demon half-breed, was dead and this time he couldn't come to her rescue. She missed him more at that moment than she ever had. These were his visions that she suffered, part of him that would always be a part of her. Still sobbing and in pain she managed to dial Wesley's number, this time it rang "Pick up pick up pick up." she panted.
There was a click as the receiver was picked up at the other end, she didn't give him time to speak, "Angel's gone bad." was all she managed to say through the hysterical tears.
"Cordelia?" it was Wesley's voice, and she couldn't speak anymore.
She hugged the phone to her chest and rocking back and forth, she sobbed her heart out.
"Cordelia? Are you at home? Stay there, I'm on my way."
As the voice turned into a dial tone a white handkerchief fluttered in front of her face and phantom Dennis gently began to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
A short time later Cordelia lay shivering on her couch with a cream wool blanket around her shoulders and ice packs on her legs while Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, disgraced ex-member of the Watcher's council and sometime rogue demon hunter, paced the length of the room. "You're quite sure about what you saw?"
She nodded and he paced some more "Well, we really should make sure. Your visions can be rather vague at times, you have to admit that."
She looked up at him "I know what I saw Wesley. I'm telling you, they did it, Buffy and Angel. And now he's all evil and grrrr again."
He stopped pacing and walked towards the door, "There's only one way to be sure. I'll have to go and find him."
"Wait." Cordelia removed the ice from her legs and stood up "You're not going anywhere without me, and I have to have a shower and wash my hair first."
"I don't really think this can wait Cordelia."
"Yes, it can. It's bright sunny daylight, he won't be going far. Angel or Angelus, he'll either be skulking in his apartment or lurking in the sewers. And besides, I've known him longer than you and I've met Angelus. If he's gone bad, I'll know it in an instant."
Wesley looked at her, puzzled "I have dealt with Angelus."
She frowned "When?"
"You know, the ecstasy-drug thing, you must remember."
"I do. Of course I do. That was you?"
"Of course it was."
"Oh, I thought it was Doyle."
"You're obviously still in shock and have no idea what you're saying."
"Well I'm still coming with you, and don't argue, you know I'll win."
He silently conceded defeat and muttered nervously "A, um, shower it is then…do you need, any, um, help?"
"You can put this away." Said Cordelia and handed him the blanket.
"Yes. Right ho. Of course. I'll just sit here and wait."
"You do that."
Cautious as a mouse, Wesley opened the door marked "Angel Investigations" and peered inside. "Hellooo?" he called out, and was met by silence.
"Oh for heavens sake!" Cordelia pushed past him into the office.
It was empty. The blinds were still drawn. She busied herself opening them, letting as much daylight into the room as she could. It wasn't much, but it might be enough if the worst had happened. They moved together, going further into the office, nothing seemed out of place. Wesley pulled open the heavy metal gate to lift "We'll have to go down." he said reluctantly, and down they went.
Nervously they walked into the open plan living area "Hello, anyone home?" called out Cordelia with faux cheerfulness, there was no reply.
As they walked towards Angel's bedroom Cordelia reached into her handbag and drew out a wooden stake whittled into a sharp point. Wesley frowned at her. "What?" she asked him "Hey, I told him if he went bad I'd stake him in a second."
"Good luck with that then." came a familiar voice from behind.
They both turned on their heels and faced Angel, standing there, looking like Angel and dressed in Angel's usual black garb. Cordelia raised the stake and he took a step backwards "Hey, what did I do now?" he looked at her seriously "Did I forget a birthday?"
Wesley stepped between the two of them, "Cordelia has had a vision Angel," he scrutinised the figure before him "and we have reason to believe that you may have, well that you are, I mean to say you might have…"
He floundered, trying to find a polite way to express what was ultimately, if the vision was wrong, an insult. As usual Cordelia came straight to the point "Have you and Buffy been doing the nasty? Are you evil guy again?"
"Buffy?" Angel looked shocked "I haven't seen her for, well, weeks. Not since that whole initiative thing blew up. You know I think she's still pretty mad at me. You thought I'd gone bad? Why? What did you see?"
Cordelia told him, in no uncertain terms, the contents of her vision. Angel laughed, "It's wrong. It has to be, unless…"
"Unless what?" said Wesley.
"Unless it hasn't happened yet. Maybe what you saw was a portent. Something that's going to happen."
Cordelia brightened "That must be it. The powers that be are sending us advance warning that we should keep you away from Buffy."
She tugged impatiently at Wesley's sleeve "Come on Wes. Let's leave Angel to his privacy." she looked back at Angel as they walked hurriedly to the lift "You should call Buffy, make sure she's going to keep her distance."
"I'll do that." Said Angel.
"Good afternoon Angel," said Wesley "and let me apologise for us bursting in on you unannounced."
"Come on Wesley." Said Cordelia "Later Angel."
A few moments later the two of them were walking back through the office and making their way out of the building. Cordelia turned to Wesley "He's Angelus right?"
"Oh most definitely."
"We need to call Giles right now."
The phone rang loudly in Buffy and Willows dorm room. Buffy burst through the door, threw a pile of books and her shoulder bag onto the bed and grabbed the receiver "Yeh'lo?"
"Buffy?" it was Giles and he sounded strange.
"Giles, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Get Willow and come to my place straight away."
"I'm between classes Giles, I can't just…"
"Do it. Now."
The line went dead in her ear. "This is not a good sign." she muttered as she retrieved her bag and went to find Willow.
Buffy and Willow walked into the front room of Giles' house to find that they were not the only ones to have been summoned. Xander had also been dragged away from his basement life for the conference. Before either of them could speak Giles stood up from the couch and motioned for them both to sit "Thank you for coming so promptly." he said.
No-one spoke, so far this had all the feel of another apocalyptic disaster announcement about it. "As you are aware Cordelia has been working for Angel in L.A and it would appear that she gets visions. They had a colleague, Doyle, who was half demon and originally he got the visions, messages from the…um…"
"P.T.B's?" offered Willow helpfully.
Giles took his glasses off and squeezed the bridge of his nose "Yes, thank you Willow. The powers that be. Anyway before Doyle died he passed his gift, for want of a better word, onto Cordelia."
"I'm sure she'd have preferred jewellery." quipped Buffy, only to be silenced by a glare from Giles.
"Don't we already know this?" asked Xander "We already know this."
"What's the point Giles?"
"The point is, Buffy, that I received a phone call a short time ago from Cordelia with some very disturbing news. It would appear that she had a vision this morning about Angel."
Buffy's face instantly became panicked and Willow put an arm around her shoulders, Giles deliberately avoid her terror-stricken eyes "To be more precise, Angel and Buffy. She saw them being intimate, in that way. And then she saw…she saw…"
"She saw Angelus right?"
He looked apologetic "Right."
Buffy suddenly seemed cheerful "Well that's alright. What's the panic for? I've been staying away from Angel, you all know that. I'll just keep staying away, yes? Yes Giles?" she looked to him for reassurance and stopped smiling when none was forthcoming.
"No Buffy. It would appear that the details in the vision have already come to pass. Sometime in the past twenty-four hours apparently, since Angel was fine when they left him yesterday afternoon."
"Was fine? What are you saying?"
He looked at her and she thought her heart might break from the pain she saw in his eyes. "No! NO! Giles no. Say no Giles. Say it, say it, say…" and then the tears came, and she turned away and sobbed into Willow's shoulder.
Willow looked up "But Buffy has been right here, in Sunnydale, with us. There's no way she's been near Angel for weeks."
"I know Willow. I've already explained to Cordelia and Wesley that part of the vision is either wrong or has been misinterpreted."
"Then Angel really has turned back into Angelus?" asked Xander.
"I'm rather afraid so." replied Giles.
"Dammit," moaned Xander "I really don't like that guy."
Up until the moment Wesley and Cordelia had descended on him, the thing that had been Angel, had been sat brooding about his next move. He was free again, liberated. His cursed soul was gone, and he didn't want it back. Last time Buffy had fought to reinstate it, but where was she now? And, more importantly, what was she? She wasn't vampire of that much he was certain. Possession, he mused. Possibly, but then someone from the 'Scooby gang' would have surely called to warn Angel against her.
No, this had to be something else. A bad Buffy, and the thought aroused him. She was talented at keeping secrets from those closest to her, she had changed into something else, that was beyond a doubt.
Unless, and this was a thought he hadn't entertained before, it hadn't been Buffy, unless it had been something different altogether. But surely he would have known, or at least the thing he had been before, Angel, would've known. The name alone pissed him off. He had to make a decision regarding Buffy. He didn't much care what that final decision was because he wasn't prepared to take the risk this time, the risk of going back to hell or of being sensitive brooding guy again.
Then the gruesome twosome had arrived and he had to go through the annoying charade of pretending he was still loser Angel, complete with sense and feeling. He thought he'd done quite well up until the point where Cordelia had virtually dragged Wesley out of the apartment. Then he found himself pondering a new predicament. Had either of them guessed that he wasn't himself, his former self, anymore? Although neither of them were among the brightest stars in the constellations, between the two they had probably managed to work out that he wasn't his old self. Following their quick getaway he suspected that they had. Should he take them out first or wipe out some earlier mistakes? The way he figured it was that it would be too late now anyway, if he had been sussed then they would already be spreading the word and drawing up battle plans against him, with or without Buffy. Bad Buffy or good Buffy, he'd had enough of her messing in his life.
Although it was afternoon, the day was overcast and his car, Angel's car, had tinted windows. He could get to it through the tunnels and be in Sunnydale before the sun rose.
Angelus had made his decision.
Time to snuff out an old flame.
"Wesley. Cordelia." Giles beckoned them inside "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."
"Indeed."
"It's everyone!" squealed Cordelia "Hi everyone!" then she looked again "Everyone and more." The Scooby gang appeared to have a few more members since she'd last sat down with them.
Anya, vengeance demon-turned-human and Xander's girlfriend, she recognised and ignored. Tara, practising Wicca and Willow's girlfriend, she just ignored. Riley, she walked straight up to and, giving her most seductive smile, said "And who is this?"
"I'm Riley."
"Oh." Now she knew who he was, he was Buffy's, but from Angel's decidedly biased descriptions, Cordelia had been expecting something entirely different, "That your first name or last?"
"It's Riley Finn." He told her.
Cordelia turned back to Wesley and muttered, "Sounds like an Irish folk band."
"How's Buffy?" Wesley asked Giles.
"She's upstairs resting at the…"
"I'm right here."
Giles went up to her and touched her shoulder "How are you feeling?"
"I'll be fine Giles" she told him and turned to the others "Cordelia, Wesley. Any news?"
Cordelia jumped in, "Well I had an audition the other day for a walk-on part in a day time soap, and you know, I think they're probably going to call me back for…"
"I meant about Angel."
"Oh. Oh uh. He's left the city we think. And Buffy, I hate reminding you of this, but he's definitely Angelus now."
Buffy glared at her "You don't hate reminding me of any such thing. You're probably just pissed that you might be out of a job."
"How dare you. Angel happens to be my friend."
"You don't know the meaning of the word."
"That's rich coming from little miss go it alone. At least I don't go around sending my boyfriends to hell when they have a problem."
"No you just drive them into the arms of demons."
Anya turned to Xander and whispered, "Does she mean me? Was that about me?"
"I don't think so." He lied.
The two women went on, with Cordelia saying "Better a demon than a Buffy. Tell me, have you slept with Riley yet? Is he going to kill everyone when you do?"
"At least I have someone to sleep with Cordelia. At least my boyfriend didn't kill himself."
And Cordelia found she couldn't answer that, she tried to, but found her throat choked tight with emotion. The audience shuffled and looked decidedly uncomfortable. Having struck a nerve, Buffy went on "Angel told me what happened to Doyle, the way you treated him."
Then her tears started, "I…didn't…I…Oh God…" she groped in her bag for a tissue and Wesley passed her his handkerchief, she buried her face in it.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" yelled Giles, "Buffy, you are out of line." She crossed her arms and looked petulant, "I want everybody outside now, except for Buffy and Cordelia."
They all looked at each other, it was the middle of the night, "NOW!"
They all shuffled reluctantly to the door, "Can we listen at the keyhole?" asked Xander, and Willow punched him on the arm, "Ow!"
Wesley hung back, assuming that he, being an ex-watcher like Giles, should remain, "You too Wesley. You can all come back in a minute."
"Oh right. Sorry."
Cordelia made to hand him back his sodden hanky before he left, but he graciously declined, "You hang on to it for now."
The front door closed and the three of them were finally alone. Buffy was mad as hell, Cordelia was weeping noisily and Giles was cleaning his glasses on his shirt. Buffy opened her mouth to speak but Giles got there first "Shut up!"
She shut it quickly in surprise. Because Giles didn't lose his temper much it scared her when he did. Vampire slayer or no, Giles in a bad mood was not pleasant. He put his glasses back on and glowered at the two of them "I'm sick of you two bickering. It's been going on for years, and it's going to stop now, tonight. Resolve your differences, or we have no hope of saving Angel." And so saying, Giles exited as well, leaving Buffy and Cordelia together, alone.
Outside, in the cold, Willow went up to Giles, "Do you think it's a good idea putting those two in a room together. What if Buffy decides to, you know?"
Anya tried to help "What if Buffy kicks her ass? Cause she could you know. Kick her ass that is." She turned to Xander "Mind you so could I for that matter. Do you think Buffy needs a hand?" Xander quickly placed a restraining hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you Anya," sighed Giles, "I'm well aware of Buffy's capabilities, but I don't think that's going to happen. At least I hope it's not. But until those two get it out their system we can't do anything." And, pushing Xander out of the way, he pressed his ear to the door, just in case.
The air in Giles' front room could have been cut with a knife, Buffy was tempted to try, but she knew violence wasn't the solution here. Cordelia stopped sniffing and braced herself for a bitch fight, but it didn't come. Buffy sat down and Cordelia followed her lead, now they were face to face. It was a wiser, more mature Buffy that spoke first "Cordelia, look I'm sorry. Those things I said about Doyle were out of order and they weren't true. I know you cared for him and I know he died a hero. You should be proud of him."
"I am. Everyday. But everyday I wish he was still here." She confessed, "I'm sorry about Angel. I really am."
"I know you are, and that's what got to me. You see him everyday Cordelia."
"Well not everyday…"
"Everyday," she went on "and sometimes I can't even recall his face clearly, and those times when I do, it hurts too much."
"You have Riley. That's more than I have."
"I have Riley. But I still care about Angel."
"So do I. He's my friend. A true friend. Not something I've had a lot of in my life. Sure I'm pretty and popular and people are drawn to me wanting to be my friend, but most people are shallow and don't know what true friendship is," Buffy hid a smirk in her hands "but Angel is honest and caring. I love him Buffy, and no matter what I say, to you or anyone else, I don't want to have to stake Angelus, not if there's a chance we can get Angel back."
Cordelia reached her hands out and Buffy took them in hers. They held hands as they held back tears; Buffy spoke "Then we don't stake him. We fight for his soul and we get him back."
They released their hold on each other and blew their noses; Cordelia looked at her "We never tell anyone about this conversation right?"
"Oh good God no."
When the others were allowed to file back into the house, their numbers had decreased by two. Xander explained "Anya left," he looked a little apologetic "she got bored."
"No surprises there." Said Buffy "Where's Riley?"
Giles answered her "He said he couldn't stay. I didn't feel it was my place to request that he did. This is very uncomfortable for him Buffy, you do understand that?"
"Of course I do Giles." She let the guilt wash quickly over her, she didn't have time to worry about Riley's feelings at this moment in time "We need to get things moving along. Willow, can you remember the restoration curse?"
"No problems," said Willow, eager to help "But don't we need an orb of Thesulah?"
Giles looked smug "I took the liberty earlier, while waiting for everyone to arrive. I have everything we need."
"Good," said Buffy smiling, "then this should all be over with soon. We know the restoration curse works and we know Willow can do it. I don't know what I was getting so upset about."
"I do," said Wesley "We still don't know how this happened. Cordelia still saw you in the vision and therefore we must proceed with caution."
"Stuff caution," said Buffy "let's just do the damn spell."
Under cover of darkness, the monster known as Angelus had arrived in Sunnydale. His first task had been to establish a safe place to stay during the daylight hours. He could use the tunnels during the day and on the whole as long as he stayed out of direct sunlight he'd be fine, but he still had to sleep and hide the car somewhere. The solution had presented itself almost immediately as he drove into the town. The burnt out remains of Sunnydale high school still stood, crumbling and condemned, the charred remains inviting to a creature such as himself.
He settled in what had once been the library, a place he had visited often as Angel. The massive hole in the middle of the floor was deep and comforting and the energy vibes, which he sensed from the closed hellmouth that was hidden beneath the pitted surfaced, vitalised him. On his last visit here as Angelus he had attempted to summon the apocalypse and put an end to humankind once and for all. The slayer had stopped him, given him back his soul and sent him to hell for an eternity. The powers that be had sent him back into her arms and the recovery had not been easy. He would not make all the same mistakes again. First deal with the slayer, and then bring about the end of days by re-opening the hellmouth. Prioritising. That was the key.
He'd already made a phonecall to Buffy's room at the university and there had been no answer so he suspected she would be at Giles'. If he had possessed one true talent as the weaker Angel-being, it was sneaking around. Surreptitious spying.
Undercover of night he made his way to the Watchers house, no one had bothered to draw the curtains at the windows, their minds obviously on other things. As he peered into the window he saw a sight that alarmed him and, had it been possible, would've made his blood run cold. He knew a magic circle when he saw one. He spotted candles, runes and incense, and in the middle, a dreaded crystal ball, an orb of Thesulah. They were performing the gypsy curse, and they were almost finished. Worse still, Buffy was stood among them. She was helping. Whoever it was that had come to him, lay down with him, used him. It hadn't been Buffy. "Good," he muttered under his breath "Now I can kill the bitch."
Then he heard Willow saying, "Let this object be the vessel that will carry his soul to him."
Damn, he thought, damn his timing. The chanting of the company reached his ears "So shall it be."
He readied himself to launch an attack on the front door, he was still invited into the house. He could take them by surprise and, if luck was with him, kill them all. As his right shoulder connected with the solid wood of the door he heard Willow speak the words that would complete the curse, "Please, restore this ones conscience."
Much to his surprise the door just shuddered and held. Of course they'd been expecting him and had taken precautions. They've probably cast a spell to keep me out as well, he thought, and then it dawned on him. The spell hadn't worked. He was still Angelus.
The front door opened, and there stood Buffy, stake in hand.
"Well lookee here," Angelus growled, "The slayer herself, and all her sappy little friends. Bad news, your curse didn't work, incase you hadn't noticed." He didn't give anyone time to speak as he made off into the night, calling nastily over his shoulder, "I'm gonna kill you, and your little friends too." And they heard his laugh echoing back to them in the darkness.
"Oh good," said Giles, in a voice heavy with sarcasm "Wizard of Oz impressions too, just what we didn't need."
Angelus was hungry now, he needed to feed from fresh young bodies, and so he made his way to the grounds of Sunnydale UC. He moved stealthily through the campus, he didn't expect Buffy to have followed him here, and even if she had, he could take her with one arm tied behind his back, his vampire ego didn't allow him room to concede defeat. Still he had to work quickly, she would come after him soon enough and he'd better be ready. As good as he was, he might have trouble if she had all her pathetic entourage in tow. He needed assistance, but that might take time and patience, and at this particular moment he didn't possess a whole lot of either.
How many dumb bunnies could he find running around on campus at this time of night to stare down in his headlights? "One at least." He mumbled as he spied a likely candidate walking past some bushes on the other side of the green.
He moved gracefully and silently, no average mortal would ever hear him coming. He burst through the bushes and grabbed his prey around the throat. A young female, slender and scared and the fear only excited him more. "I'm going to make you just like me." He hissed in her ear.
He didn't have to turn his vampire face on for her, he hadn't bothered reverting to his human face since he'd arrived back in Sunnydale. What was the point? He'd only come here to kill and eat, and maybe sire a few companions for the journey. He clamped a powerful hand over her mouth and squeezed her jaw shut as he sank his teeth into the tender flesh of her neck and let the hot blood flow into his mouth.
Like most feral creatures, vampires kept one eye watching the rest of world while they fed. As he saw the young man with bleached blond hair approaching, he stopped his feeding and said, with a sigh, "Spike. What a pleasure for you to see me."
"Fuck me! Angel?" the young man's face instantly changed from regular human form into heavy-browed, evil eyed, fang toothed form "I don't bloody believe it. What the hell is going on? Are you a sodding Buffy trap or what? I thought you were in L.A serving the greater good. What happened?" he glanced around nervously.
Angelus shuddered with pleasure as the fresh blood hit the spot and he let the girl fall to the floor. She instantly clambered to her feet and fled, sobbing, blood still dripping from the wound in her neck. "Damn," he moaned, "Now my dinner's escaped." He wiped the blood from around his mouth and licked his fingers clean "In answer to your questions, I don't know, no I'm not and I got better. To whom I owe the honour of my restitution I still have yet to find out, but that's none of your business." He stared hard at Spike "What's the deal with you anyway? Way I heard it, you got domesticated."
"You mean this bloody chip in my head? Don't believe everything you hear, I'm still a dangerous beast." Spike said unconvincingly.
Angelus walked forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. He sniffed the damp night air "You lie." He growled, "I heard you couldn't take blood from a baby."
He reached up and entwined his fingers in Spike's short hair and then roughly yanked his head back. Angelus pressed his face up against the other vampire's cheek and, baring his fangs, and smelt the cold pale skin deeply "I can smell the humanity on you. You've gone soft."
Spike could feel the cold points on Angelus's teeth pressed against his flesh. He felt weak. He was weak. There was no way he could take on Angelus and expect to win, not the way he felt at the moment. Not without hot human blood inside him, and that was something he hadn't been able to taste for a long time. Not since the bloody initiative had gotten hold of him and planted something in his brain that prevented him harming humans in anyway. Talk about how to piss off a vampire. If he never had to drink pig's blood again, it would be too soon. Angelus was about to rip his face off so he decided to go for bravado instead "Get off me! You bloody great poof." And he shoved him away.
Angelus just laughed. Spike continued "And what's the deal with the flasher mack? You won't find any small boys hanging around here this time of night."
Angelus ignored him and tapped his fingers against his teeth, remembering and then said thoughtfully "What did you do when you found I had soul?"
"What do you mean?" asked Spike nervously.
Again but slower "What did you, do to me, when you found, I had a soul, and that I wasn't killing humans anymore?"
This time the implications of the statement registered "Hey man, that was completely different. I would kill the humans if I could. I would give a limb, not one of my own maybe, but I'd still give one for some nice fresh human blood."
Angelus pretended he hadn't heard "What did you do last time we met like this?" he asked, meaning them as vampires, killers, equals. He stopped fiddling with his fangs and looked Spike in the eyes "You tried to kill me," he told him "You sided with the slayer and you tried to kill me."
Spike swallowed nervously "Oh crap!" and he turned and ran into the night.
"It didn't work," Buffy was saying, "Giles it didn't work."
"Yes thank you, that's quite apparent even to me." he replied dryly
"Well then perhaps he's not Angelus." Suggested Wesley
Cordelia rounded on him "Oh yeah because Angel frequently stalks his ex-girlfriends, hangs around at night and threatens people." They exchanged a glance "Okay," she admitted, "But you know what I mean."
"I know I did it right. I did. Did it right, right?" asked Willow
Tara put a hand on her shoulder "I'm sure you did sweetie."
"No I'm quite certain the spell was correct," Giles told her "But it's interesting that it didn't work. It makes me wonder quite what we're dealing with."
"I wonder," said Wesley slowly "whether it might be something like the last time."
"The last time?" asked the older watcher.
"Oh," said Cordelia excitedly "there was this actress who thought she was looking old and figured that Angel could make her stay youthful forever so she slipped a little something into his drink and bingo! Fang face appears."
"Very succinctly put Cordelia thank you," said Wesley "but she has nailed the crux of the matter. The drug the woman in questioned administered had a base not unlike ecstasy…"
"Causing a moment of perfect happiness." Finished off Giles
"Exactly. Artificial bliss. Anyway the drug wore off eventually."
Cordelia still had opinions to voice "I hate to interrupt you Mr-I've-solved-this-already guy but if that was the case, the drug would have worn off by now, it did the last time."
"She has a point there." Agreed Wesley
Buffy jumped in "Let me get some things clear here, are we saying that although Angel is Angelus he might not be. Sorry but as far as I remember there's not much middle ground with Angelus, he's either evil or he's dust."
"I'm with the dust vote." Said Xander quietly and Willow thumped him.
"I think," said Giles and removed his glasses for one of their cursory cleans "the point is that Cordelia saw Buffy and Angel together and now Angelus has returned – the best deduction I can come up with is that something or someone tricked Angel into being with Buffy and he thinks he's had a moment of perfect happiness when in fact he may not have in which case it would mean that this is all an illusion and whatever it is that's caused this effect could be reversed."
There was a pause among the group and then a universal "huh?"
"Fine," said Giles "Angel is probably under a spell and we need to find out what it is and then we can turn him back into Angel? Clear?"
"As your glasses," said Buffy "So how do we…"
Just then there came a frantic banging from Giles' front door, they all looked at each other quizzically, everyone that was supposed to be there was there. Giles cautiously approached the door, which was still being knocked loudly and consistently from outside, with Buffy close to his heels. The remainder of the group huddled close together in the middle of the living room with Wesley grabbing the closest thing to hand to serve as a weapon, a table lamp. Cordelia shot him a look and he coughed slightly and put the lamp back on the table and started looking about for a stake.
Giles wrenched the front door open causing the visitor to stumble forward as they attempted yet another harsh knock. Spike tripped over the threshold and into the apartment, there was a collective moan from most whilst Wesley and Cordelia were still looking for weapons.
"What the blazes do you want at this time of night?" asked Giles, Buffy was already squaring up to the peroxided vamp in a threatening manner.
"Well that's a bloody charming greeting I must say, especially when I'm here with information. Important quality information, which might just save your miserable little lives. Not that I care but still…" he allowed the sentence to tail off unfinished.
From the back of the room, having finally found a stake amongst Giles' possession Wesley suddenly charged forward and lunged at Spike. Spike took a step back and punched him sharply in the face. Wesley howled and dropped the stake and covered his nose with his hands. Spike howled and clasped at his head. Cordelia started forwards but Giles held up a hand to stop her. "Cordelia it's all right," he said above the moaning of the men, "Spike had a special chip put in his head by a secret Government organisation, he's perfectly harmless."
"Oh," she stopped "well that's all right then. Sounds like that might make for a good Geraldo."
"All right, all right?" wailed Wesley "I think he broke my face."
"Might be an improvement." Muttered Spike through his pain.
"What's this quality information?" asked Buffy impatiently.
"Oh so you are interested."
"You better hope I don't lose interest otherwise I might have to put a sharp piece of wood in you."
"Ouch. Well it just so happens that one of your ex-paramours is back in business. Nice chap. Tall, dark, protruding forehead, likes putting puppies on spikes, know the one I mean?" Spike said gleefully.
"Old news Spike." Buffy told him "Angelus has already paid us a visit. Now if that's all you have to say I suggest you leave, I'm starting to get bored."
"Now wait just a minute." Spike racked his brains and then shouted "Sanctuary!"
"What?"
"I want to claim sanctuary. Vampire Asylum."
"I swear I'm this close."
"Angelus threatened to kill me."
"So?"
"I want to help. You have a plan to stop him right. Well I want to help. I helped last time."
"Last time you got in the way."
"Look I'm serious. You know I'm harmless and Angelus really doesn't like me."
"I really don't like you."
"I can help. Let me help." He whined
Giles spoke "As much as I hate to say it, he may have a point Buffy. With Angelus running around we could use all the help we can get and fast."
"Fine," she said sulkily "But I warn you, you try pulling any funny business and it won't just be Angelus putting things on Spikes."
Dawn was starting to poke its fingers through the curtains by the time they'd come up with their plan. The only plan.