Three days passed in silence…but not peace, as Angel fought to keep Buffy from being lost to him forever.
On the morning of the forth day, Angel called Giles in desperation. An hour after the call had been made, the Scooby Gang arrived at Angel's home. As they got out of their respective vehicles, a scream of pure madness came from inside the mansion Angel called home.
A moment later the entry doors of the mansion exploded outward. Buffy, followed closely by Angel, ran out of the building. Only inches away from touching the sunlight, Angel tackled Buffy. They fell heavily to the ground, Buffy partly in the sunlight…and Angel a bare hair's width from being exposed to the sun. A split-second after they had fallen, Buffy cried out in pain and, in a set of motions too swift to follow, moved out of the sunlight, her back smoking as she shook in terror.
"Good Lord," whispered Giles into the stunned silence.
In silence the Scooby Gang and Watcher looked on as Willow pushed an unwilling Angel into The Room. Once in The Room, Willow stared with uncompromising eyes, pointed at a set of images burned onto the center of the floor, and said, "Explain."
Angel closed his eyes, and said defeatedly, his voice flat, "How? Since I barely understand it myself."
Willow's expression softened as she lowered her arm. "Can you explain what happened to Buffy outside…as well as why she can't seem to speak?"
"It all has to do with her time in Hell." He sighed as he opened his eyes, walked over to the burned images, and knelt down beside it. Gazing at the images, Angel murmured, "Besides the normal torture and torment one normally receives in Hell, they did something to her."
In the uneasy silence Giles asked, "What did they do?"
"They cursed her," Angel answered bluntly, before looking up at them, his eyes bleak. "As you know, she is a Warrior. In Hell that would make her, in terms you would understand, the 'Anti-Christ.'" Angel's eyes closed, as his face showed the agony and pain he was feeling. He continued, his voice barely a whisper. "During the time I have been a vampire I have heard tales of Warriors that have been trapped in that dimension…. What I have heard would make me wish my worst enemy a quick death."
"Angel," Oz said. Angel looked over at Oz with eyes so dark as to make one call them black. "Can you tell us what she was cursed with?"
Angel nodded once, quickly, and said, "I was able to get the details from Buffy at one point during the past three days…. She was cursed with the weaknesses of a vampire."
"Weaknesses of a vampire," echoed Giles softly, then asked, "In what way?"
"From what I understand, she is basically just like a vampire, except that she doesn't possess a demon within her. She also has no blood-lust. No 'game-face' as she calls it. She is also still alive and can cast a reflection. Everything else is the same."
"So…can she be killed like she could before, or only as a vampire can?" asked Xander into the stunned silence.
Angel tilted his head, looked at Xander keenly out of the corner of his eye, and said, "Very perceptive Xander. To answer your question: Only as a vampire can be killed." Angel paused, as if listening to something. A faint knowing smile traced his lips before he said, "Although…there was a side-effect that the creators of this curse were not aware of when they used it for the first time.
"Besides giving the one cursed all of the weaknesses of a vampire…it also gave them all of the strengths as well."
"Is she immortal or something then," asked Cordelia.
Angel's eyebrows rose suddenly, as everyone else gazed on in shock. Cordelia's eyes narrowed at everyone's expressions.
"What!" she snapped.
"As ever, Cordelia, you leave us dumbfounded by your insights," said Giles.
Cordelia snorted as she folded her arms. She then asked uncertainly, "So I'm right?"
"If she's immortal?" Angel asked. Cordelia nodded. "Yes. The age Buffy looks now is how she will look for the rest of all time."
Silence once again fell over the group as they thought about what had just been said. It was Willow who finally broke the silence.
"What about Buffy not being able to speak, Angel? Can you explain that?"
"They don't exactly encourage speaking in Hell," Angel murmured. "She was in there for about five hundred years. It's going to take awhile for her to regain full use of her voice again."
Another silence followed, which was then broken by Cordelia.
"Um…question, Angel. If Buffy can't talk, how did she tell you about her being cursed?"
"Once again…" murmured Giles, as Angel made a show of gazing at the floor intently.
Angel slowly answered, "We can talk to each other through our souls."
"Oh!" exclaimed Willow. "So that's what you two were doing before you kissed!"
Angel nodded, then, after a moment, looked up at Giles, his gaze intense.
"Giles, I need to ask you something, and I need you to answer me truthfully," Angel said.
Giles nodded and said, "I will answer to the best of my ability, Angel."
"Who is the Head of the Watchers? Whether I want to or not, I feel a kinship with her."
Giles was silent for a long moment, then said sincerely and earnestly, "I can tell you, but…you will not like the answer."
Quietly Angel said, "Tell me."
Giles took off his glasses, polished them, then put them back on, before replying, "Her name is Maeve Kells, and she is my half-sister through our mother." Giles sighed, then looked Angel straight in the eye, and said firmly, "Angel, Maeve is also your ninth great-granddaughter."
In the stunned silence that followed, Angel said dumbly, "That was unexpected."
A few seconds later, Angel shook his head, as if clearing it. He sighed before saying, "I should have expected this. I sure slept with enough women when I was human for it to happen."
Willow's eyes grew huge, as Cordelia's mouth actually dropped open. Xander made a faint "oh" sound, while Oz merely arched an eyebrow, which for him was saying quite a lot.
"I don't think that was wise to say in front of the children, Angel," Giles said in quiet reproach.
Angel looked at Giles out of eyes filled with irony, before saying, "It doesn't matter. They would've learned about it sooner or later."
Giles lips thinned in disapproval. Angel's gaze turned serious, as he said, "I need to speak with…my descendant. There are obviously some things that need to be settled between us. I also want to…propose a deal to her."
"What type of deal?"
"One that concerns Buffy's safety…and the safety of the Hellmouth while Buffy recovers."