Xander, Willow, and Cordelia sat at the table while Angel leaned casually against the book cage. Giles paced back and forth around the room, continuously rubbing at his glasses with a handkerchief. Buffy sat on top of the check-out counter, throwing out her concerns for what was going to happen next.

"How can the Master still be running things if he's just a ghost now?" Buffy asked Giles. "I thought when Willow magicked him out of Angel, that'd be the end of it."

Giles placed his glasses back on.

"Um…unfortunately, it seems the spell that was used to draw his essence to this plane was powerful enough that he does not require a host shell." He replied.

"So how do we take him down?"

"I'm sorry to say that it appears in order to truly defeat the Master, we must first restore him to his corporeal form."

After what she had just been through tonight, Buffy could not believe what she was hearing.

"Wait. Give himback a body!"

"Not find him another host, Buffy. We'll need to actually transform his spirit into flesh. It's the only way."

Buffy hated the sound of it, but she needed to know more about what Giles was talking about.

"Giles, stop pacing. You're making me nervous. What about this flesh transformy thingy?"

Giles stopped pacing and turned to her.

"While you enter the church, the rest of us will perform a rather complicated spell that will temporarily restore the Master back to physical form. The spell is quite tricky and the Master will only remain physically manifested while the spell is being performed."

"Makin' with the mojo." Xander cheered from the table. "Does that make me a warlock?" Everyone glanced at him. "Sorry, just kinda excited about wielding the magick. But no more funky tribal masks, they ruin my credibility."

"Like you need help with that." Cordelia replied, rolling her eyes.

Buffy glanced away from them to see Angel still leaning against the cage. He looked worn out from tonight's crazy events, especially after gaining back control of his body and all.

"Hey, you sure you're gonna be all right?" she asked him softly.

Angel forced a smile.

"I'm sure. Whatever "all right" is, thanks to you, that's what I'll be."

"Oh sure,now you're all right, when it's convenient not to be evil!" Cordelia butted in.

"Oh, good, evil, what should I be? So hard to decide!"

"I'm pretty wary too, Cordelia, but…it wasn't Angel this time." Willow said. "He was possessed by the Master. He wasn't evil, so much as a hotel for evil."

"Why is the evil never his fault? We're all just a big bunch of darkness enablers, aren't we?" she retorted.

"Hold on. Just because I don't like to talk about my past doesn't mean I don't accept the responsibility for it. I bear that burden everyday. But this time around, the choices weren't mine. I was used."

"Oh whine whine whine. Join the club. You want to know what's it's like to be used? Date a quarterback!"

"Can we just go? If we don't track the Master down fast, it may be too late to stop him." He replied impatiently.

"Oh no. Between the Master possessing you, and what we had to do to break you loose, you're in no shape to fight. I need you here." Buffy protested.

"Here? What good am I going to do anyone here?"

"Well, you've been around some magick in your time. Perhaps you can aid Willow and I in our preparation." Giles offered.

"Angel, I'm sorry, but I wouldn't be able to focus if I was worrying the whole time."

Angel let out a deep sigh.

"Don't worry, I'll make myself useful. Even if I can't help with the actual sorcery, I can still help. The more people involved in this spell, the more powerful it is. I'll stick with Giles and the others and help turn the Master into a Buffy punching bag."

Everyone silently agreed. Willow suddenly perked up and rose from the table. She came up to Buffy with the talisman in her hand.

"Oh yeah, Buffy, I almost forgot to remind you. When you get inside the church, things might be kinda wacky. With the Dreamers' power to warp reality, who knows what kind of twisted landscape they'll create."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders.

"Can't be any worse than L.A"

"No matter what happens around you, you're gonna need to stay focused. To do that, I'm thinking maybe you should wear the necromancer's talisman. I found a spell that I can cast on it that, amplified by the talisman's own power, should guide you through whatever reality the Dreamers create."

She handed her the talisman. Once again, she could feel its power circulate through her body, but it was a lot less powerful than before. She found herself able to gain control of it. Her senses grew keen and sharp.

"Wow, what a rush. Thanks Will."

Xander and Cordelia stood up and joined them.

"Shouldn't we get on with it? This is already seeming like the longest night of my life." He said impatiently.

"Xander's right. We should get going, Buffy." Angel said.

"Right, let's head out. Cordelia, can you drive?"

"I'll somehow manage to survive."

"Good. Then Willow and Xander, you two ride with Cordy. Angel and I will ride in Giles' car."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Giles went to the book cage and passed out weapons. They all made their way out of the library. Buffy walked next to Cordelia, who was limping most of the way.

"How's your ankle?" she asked her.

"I think it's sprained. Thanks to that creepy screaming thingy that attacked me I'll never be able to lead the cheerleading squad now." She replied sadly.

She sighed and turned to Buffy as they walked.

"As much as it pains me to say, Buffy, you'll have to make the team for the both of us. Oh…and good luck with the whole saving the world thing."

Buffy was surprised to hear those words coming from Cordelia. She was expected a smart ass, snooty remark that everyone else was so used to hearing from her. Cordelia wasn't that bad of a person when she tried not to be.

"Thanks, Cordy. I'll do my best."

---

Buffy stood in the corner of the small room with Angel and Giles, going over what to do next after they all rendezvoused at the tunnels that would lead them to the Master. Cordelia, Willow, and Xander stood nearby.

"It's weird, Buffy. The Master's gone, but it's like I can still hear echoes of him in my head." Angel said. "He's completely obsessed now. In some ways it's like he's more driven than ever to bring the Old Ones to Earth because then wrecking havoc, that would feel like he had his revenge on you. I think we've just started to get an idea of the intensity of his rage and hatred towards you."

"Feelin' a big 'oh yeah?' coming on." Buffy replied. "Baldy keeps messing with my love-loved ones. Time for me to show him the intensity of my rage and hatred."

"For what it's worth, I'd say you're off to a good start. Some of us are already feeling it. I'm just glad we're on the same side again."

"So am I."

They smiled at each other.

"Before we continue with anything, there is one thing I want to remind you of." Giles said to Buffy, interrupting the moment. "If we're to successfully restore the Master to physical form, all those involved in casting the spell must focus their total concentration. Unfortunately, we must factor in the possibility of human error. Particularly given the usual level of concentration in this bunch. Thus, there's a chance that the Master may momentarily shift between phantasmal and corporeal form."

"Getting the idea that's a bad thing."

"Well, it's certainly not a good thing. You'll only be able to destroy him when he is in physical form."

"Right then, thanks for the warning. And you're going to make sure that human error factor is a small one, right?"

"I'll do my best."

Giles' words weren't helping her much. Xander must have seen what she was feeling.

"Don't worry, Buffster, you'll kick the Master's ass again." He said, coming up to her. "It's like peanut butter and jelly, your foot and the Master's ass. Am I making any sense here? Hopefully he'll have the common sense to stay dead this time. The real dead, not that living dead crap."

"You're making perfect sense. I'm still sore from when he killed me a year ago, so this won't be too much of a problem. Still, I can't shake the serious wiggins this is all giving me."

"Well, if it helps, and assuming the world isn't overrun by rampaging, flesh-eating demons tonight, liquid refreshments at The Bronze are on me."

"Yum. That's what I call incentive." Buffy gushed.

"That's right, you be a good Slayer, and kill all the nasty demons, and I'll buy you something sweet and treaty."

"Thanks Xander."

Cordelia and Willow came up to her.

"Don't worry, Buffy. I've memorized enough cheers, not to mention state capitals, that I'll get this materialization spell right." Cordelia assured. "'Klaatu, barata…' Anyways, I'll get it. I can always mumble the stuff I don't know."

"Oh, thanks. I'm all aglow with reassurance." Buffy replied sarcastically

Cordelia sighed.

"Just don't get hurt. Without you, the cheer squad will have to draft Pepsi Whiting and she's got clown feet and the agility of a pregnant buffalo."

Buffy stood quietly, not sure of what to say to her. She wasn't used to Cordelia worrying about her like that. Luckily, Willow cut into the uncomfortable silence.

"You oughta get going, Buffy. We really need to prepare for the materialization spell, and you really need to prevent Hell on Earth."

"Again? We did that last week." Buffy joked, trying to lighten herself up.

"Willow's right. The Master may be getting on in his centuries, but age hasn't slowed him down." Angel chipped in.

"Yeah, well I slowed him down once before, remember? I killed him. Guess I just have to do it again."

"Just be careful He killed you once too." He warned.

"Yeah. It's one to one. This one's for the championship."