Sunnydale, In that same six-month window since Willow's death.
Things had changed over the past six months in Sunnydale.
Willow's case was still on-going with her parents, Buffy, Giles, and separately, Xander pushing for the search to continue even though the latter three knew the truth of what happened. However, the case was already on the way to becoming cold. After many man-hours and various leads that went nowhere, Willow's case was on the road to being put on ice. Giles had spent months searching for ways to bring the redhead back to Earth, but he and the Council were stymied at every turn; everything was a dead-end. Everything he tried for months afterwards failed as well, even with Angel's help from Los Angeles.
Until then, Giles and the others were stuck. However, he did get the letter from Angel telling him about the conversation he had With the Powers that Be, the woman he met in the cavern, and Willow being her champion. Giles wrote back saying that he'll continue doing his own research on this woman, but with nothing else to go on in regards to who she was, or what group of higher beings she belonged to, there wasn't much he could do.
In the meantime, Giles, Althanea, and Jenny helped with the search for a way to bring Willow back. The Watcher didn't tell the women that he was in contact with Angel, deciding that it would be better not to mention his name unless he discovered something that would help them in getting Willow back from Acathla's hell.
After six months following Willow's death, and the search for a way to bring her back to Earth, came the news that there was another Slayer in Sunnydale. It was Buffy who met her during her patrol; the blonde Slayer was surrounded by seven vampires, and nearly lost until the new Slayer, Faith, jumped in to help.
Not wanting to repeat the same mistakes he had made with Willow, Giles wanted to make sure that Faith was actually well taken care off. Buffy, on the other hand, didn't want Faith to fight... she wanted the new Slayer to go home and be with her own family, if she had any; Buffy told her Watcher and Faith after the fight, once they returned to the library, that she had seen enough people die… she didn't want any more blood of other Slayers, or her friends, on her hands.
However, Faith refused to leave. Giles could see that she was frightened about something, and when he asked her, she refused to answer. So he made a call to the Watcher's Council immediately while Faith was in the library, and asked about Faith and her Watcher. He wanted to know how it was that a Watcher could leave his or her Slayer alone. To the man's surprise, the Council told him that not only did Faith have no family, her Watcher was killed by an ancient vampire, named Kakistos.
When Giles went to Faith, who was sitting on a chair talking to Buffy with her feet propped up on the table, the Watcher asked her why she didn't mention that her Watcher was killed. Buffy and Giles then noticed the look of sadness that appeared on the Slayer's face for an instant before it was replaced with anger.
"I don't need you people," Faith had said as she got up, and then was walking around the table. "I'm gone and…"
"You are staying here, Faith," determined Giles as Faith turned and narrowed her eye-brows at the older man.
"You've got this Carrot-guy coming after you, right?" asked Buffy with are arms crossed over her chest.
"Kakistos," corrected Giles.
"I got him," Faith replied with her hands up as she stepped back, "and…"
"Kendra died because I wasn't there," said Buffy taking a step towards Faith with her arms crossed over her chest, "I'm not having another Slayer die, no way. I let her die, and I let my friend die because I screwed up. There is no way I'm repeating that mistake."
"Where are you staying?" asked Giles looking directly at Faith, who noticed the sad look on the blonde's face when she mentioned that friend; a look that lasted for a few seconds, before it was gone once Buffy realized where she was. Deciding to ask Buffy about this friend of hers later, Faith then looked directly at Giles, and shook her head.
"The motel… look, I don't need your charity and…"
"It's not charity," replied Giles as he walked up to the new Slayer, "a motel's a public place, a vampire can go in and out. No, you are not staying there. What I am insisting on, is that you stay with one of us."
"But…" began Faith while shaking her head again and waving her arms about just as Buffy raised her hand and interrupted the Slayer.
"No buts," replied Buffy, "I'll talk to my mom, she knows I'm a Slayer and… and now she'll know that there's another one in town. You're staying with us."
This was something that surprised Faith.
She looked into the eyes of Buffy and Giles to make sure that she wasn't being deceived; it was not the first time that she had been tricked in her young life. She ran away from her home when she was fourteen and was living on the streets of Boston, away from her murdering-conman of a father, and her alcoholic-prostitute mother. It was a year later that she was activated and found by her Watcher, and then her Watcher died protecting her from Kakistos. Faith shook her head when she heard Giles insisting that she will not stay in the motel, while Buffy went to call Joyce.
It would be that night that a rigid Giles and Buffy moved Faith's things from her room, to a spare room in the Summers house. The stunned Faith was welcomed by Joyce, and then she met Jenny, who Giles had called to meet them. And this was followed by Althanea, who was still working at Sunnydale Mercy, while in the meantime trying to find spells with the help of the Devon Coven that would call Willow back from the depths of Hell.
That night, once Giles, who told Faith that he would like to see how far her Watcher had trained her the next day, had left with Jenny and Althanea, Faith looked silently at the pictures on the mantle. There was one picture that had a silver edged photo frame; that of Buffy, a young man, and a red haired girl sitting on grass while laughing at the camera. The dark haired Slayer didn't notice Buffy walking up to, and then standing, right next to her until it was too late, a fact that startled her.
Faith watched Buffy pick up the picture frame, and then smile sadly at the picture, before she carefully placed it back on the mantle. Faith glanced over at Joyce who was in the foyer, who looked sadly at them, before she turned and headed to the dining room. Turning to Buffy when she heard Joyce taking the plates away from the dining table, Faith opened her mouth to ask a question, but Buffy pre-empted her and spoke.
"I lost my best friend," said Buffy as she looked at the photo-frame, "the Slayer before you died while she was doing her job and.."
"My Watcher told me this is a crazy gig," replied Faith who had her hands in her jeans, "we die, it's what happens to a Slayer."
"That's what Giles told me after Kendra died," replied Buffy softly, "but I wasn't there. I know you have a lot of questions, and I'll answer them.. but not now. I'll make a promise that I'll help you… I can't lose another Slayer like I lost Kendra."
"You said you lost a friend too," muttered Faith nodding at the picture, "that her? The redhead?"
"I'm not going to repeat the same mistakes," replied Buffy cryptically while she looked at the pictures. Faith narrowed her eyes at the blonde Slayer before looking the picture again. She was wondering if she should push Buffy for more information, but decided against it… at least for now. She glanced around the living room and liked how warm it felt... although she wouldn't admit it to Buffy. However, she was thankful for the clean bed she saw up in the spare room. It was unlike the motel room she booked herself into once she arrived in Sunnydale.
Two nights later, Faith and Buffy were attacked by Kakistos and his minions while they were conducting a patrol near some warehouses. Fearful of the ancient vampire due to what he did to Faith's Watcher, she ran away as fast as she could, her arm trembling in fear so much that she dropped her stake. Faith could hear Buffy calling for her as she ran, her heart was racing while she recalled Diana Dormer's screams while shewas forced to watch. Faith remembered Dormer telling her, before the encounter with Kakistos, that if anything happened to her, then Faith was to head directly for Sunnydale.
"It's human to be afraid, Faith." The dark haired Slayer stopped as she remembered one of the first things that Dormer told her during their training sessions in her gentle voice, "sometimes it's best to run, you can gather your strength and then, when you are ready, fight back on your own terms."
Faith turned around to see Buffy fighting Kakistos, while four of his vampire minions just looked on, one of them holding the others back. The dark haired Slayer shook her head before running towards a dumpster and picking up a wooden four-by-four. She then ran back towards Buffy and told her to duck. Buffy crouched down as Faith slammed the wood into Kakistos' chest, dusting him.
Buffy looked at the pile of dust on the floor, and then at his minions who were staring in surprise at her and Faith before running away. The blonde then turned her head towards a panting Faith looking at where Kakistos was just standing. She saw the dark haired Slayer take in a deep breath before looking at her, and helping her to her feet.
"You came back," said Buffy when she saw that Faith was about to say something, "that's what matters."
Faith nodded at Buffy before the both of them headed home. Faith would start her training with Buffy and Giles the next day, and eventually, a few days later, Giles asked the Watchers Council for help in enrolling Faith into Sunnydale High. However, Faith said that she wasn't into the 'whole High School thing'. She remained stubborn about not being a part of the Sunnydale High family, with eventually Joyce, Jenny, and Althanea coming up with a compromise for the dark haired Slayer; home schooling, and then the GED at the end of teh school year. It was something that Faith accepted, while sticking her tongue out at BUffy.
As for Xander?
He was still with Cordelia, who sometimes would help Buffy with her patrol in the six months before Faith's arrival, and even after. Cordelia was aware that, despite everything that happened, Buffy still needed to protect them from the darkness that attracted vampires and demons to Sunnydale. She had also met Faith a few days after she moved in with Joyce, but Xander had refused to have anything to do with Buffy. He had minimal contact with the blonde Slayer; an occasional nod to her when they passed each other in school was all. However, he would occasionally talk with Faith at the library, when she'd come to study with Giles, and when Buffy wasn't around.
Things changed when it was time for Buffy's Cruciamentum two weeks later.
Giles had refused to put Buffy's life in danger for the savage trial, so the Council had sent another Watcher, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, to replace him before he could tell Buffy, or even Faith, anything. The older Watcher was knocked out at his home, and then held prisoner in Santa Barbara by a Special Operations Team for three days. During those three days, Wesley, who told Buffy and Faith that Giles was called away to London for an urgent assignment, had been dosing Buffy with drugs when Faith wasn't there. And eventually, the blonde Slayer lost her powers.
Not knowing why Buffy was losing her powers was something that concerned her and Faith.
Buffy and Faith had gone to Wesley, but he pretended to be curious as well in regards to what was happening with Buffy's powers. They went to Althanea on the third day that Buffy was feeling weak; the nurse checked for anything that was magically related, but didn't find anything. She then drew Buffy's blood, and told her that she'll run a test on it and that the results would be coming in the next day.
Later that night of the third day, Xander was at home when he got a frantic call from Giles. Xander heard Giles saying something about being kidnapped, and that Buffy was in danger because she didn't have her powers.
"She could die, Xander," yelled Giles over the phone as Xander heard shouts and a commotion in the background while the Watcher screamed, "Faith won't be enough and… help Buffy. Xander, you must… she'll die!"
"Giles?" yelled Xander, as he got up from his bed, before the line went silent, "Giles!"
That began the slow repair of Xander and Buffy's friendship.
He, along with Faith, thanks to help from Althanea using a locator spell on Buffy, found the blonde Slayer in an abandoned asylum fighting an insane vampire. Xander watched as Buffy was thrown into a wall just as he and Faith crashed through a blocked door. The resulting fight ended with Xander slightly injured, and Buffy killing the vampire thanks to help from Faith. It would be back at the library that the three of them confronted Wesley, who congratulated Buffy on passing the test. He told the blonde Slayer exactly the Cruciamentum entailed, and that she passed. He then continued to tell her that Giles was already on his way back from his 'urgent' assignment.
"Screw you," hissed Faith while crossing her arms over one another, and shaking her head at Wesley.
"This is a Council tradition, Faith," said Wesley.
"Leave my city," demanded Buffy who had bruises on her face, and was bleeding from a cut on her forehead.
"I am sorry," said Wesley, who shocked the two Slayers with what he said next, "but I can't… you see, Mr. Giles has been fired from the Council for wanting to tell you about the Cruciamentum before it started. So, I am your new Watcher."
While Giles was fired, he was still the librarian at the High School. And his first reaction of meeting Wesley brought chuckles to Buffy, Xander, and Faith.
He punched the new Watcher. And broke his nose.
In the months since the Cruciamentum, things had gone from bad to worse in terms of the supernatural. Faith, Buffy, Xander, who agreed to help Buffy, but refused to forgive her for what happened with Angelus and Willow, Althanea, Jenny, and Giles had to deal with threats that distracted them from their research on getting Willow back. Buffy refused to tell Wesley about their ongoing researchck, not trusting the man after what he, and the Council, did to her during the Cruciamentum. Faith had also agreed with Buffy, the Dark haired Slayer was told about Willow, and what happened to her nearly a month after Buffy's Cruciamentum. She knew that Buffy was uneasy about telling her sister Slayer the details of what happened, so she let Buffy take her time.
Eventually Faith learned everything, and she felt for the blonde who took the blame for what happened to her best friend.
"My life has been hell," whispered Faith as they sat on Buffy's bed, the latter holding on tight to Mr. Gordo, her stuffed pig, "but knowing someone, especially someone you consider a best friend, actually in Hell.. compared to that? What I've been through is nothing. Do.. do you think that she's.."
"Giles said that the Hell dimension she's in is… is full of torment for those who have souls," whispered Buffy shaking her head, "I can't imagine what she's going through and… and he said time flows differently. She's been gone for more than six months, and for her it could be hundreds of years. And we're no closer to getting her back… every research we've done has led to a dead-end. Some spells will let in hell-beasts, or other pure demons to Earth if we open a doorway to Hell. Basically, the world will end. So we need to find a better way."
"Then we still search," said Faith softly as she imagined Willow making that decision to end her life, "we don't stop."
In the meantime, only Giles knew that Angel was working on his end to find something.
Eventually, Wesley was brought into the research team to bring Willow back once the Scoobies realized that they needed the resources of the Council. Wesley listened on, stunned at What Giles and Buffy had told him, with Jenny, Althanea, and the others all surrounding him at Giles' apartment. Wesley's voice was shaking when he said that Acathla was being kept deep underground while protected by magical charms and wards, but he never knew that he was awakened.
"Angelus used Willow's blood to wake him," stated Giles as he looked at Wesley's stunned face, "she was… I saw Angelus… listen, I'm not going to say what happened to her. All I'll say is that at the end, she was brave. Acathla opened his mouth, and the vortex formed to take everything to his hell. She was brave, she told me to stab her… and I did."
"Oh Lord," muttered Wesley as he paced the carpet in Giles' living room, "why didn't you tell the Council?"
"Would it have mattered?" asked Giles as Wesley stopped, and looked away from the older man, "they couldn't have done anything, and by the time they would have come to a decision to act on Acathla's awakening? We'd be in Hell right now… Willow made her sacrifice to save the rest of us."
"As much as I think the Council is a major pain," said Buffy, her jaw setting in anger before she spoke again, "we need resources."
"A way to bring her back, without the backlash of having demons or hell-spawn appearing on Earth," explained Althanea, "the Devon Coven's still searching for a way, but all the spells they have found involves the return of someone who was sent down to hell, along with various doorways opening that will lead to the end of the world. A demonic take-over."
"We cannot have that," whispered Wesley while rubbing the back of his head, "but you know the Council won't help, for that exact same reason."
"I'm sure the Council's restricted sections have something that can help us," said Giles, "I'm fired from the Council, but you're not. We need access to that section of the Council archives, Wesley… we're asking you not to tell the Council about this. But we need help to bring back Willow, please, but I'm afraid that the Council will interfere... and we can't let them interfere so I'm asking you to work around them, use your contacts, Wesley. She's in hell suffering unimaginable torment, and.. and we need to get her back. No matter what she ends up as being, we need her back. We need to help her return to who she was."
Wesley closed his eyes and nodded his head. He reached out to his contacts in the Council's archives, and started a search. However, the still unsuccessful search for a way to get Willow back was derailed with the discovery that the Mayor of Sunnydale, Ricard Wilkins the Third, was attempting to ascend; to become an Old One.
The Scoobies knew that Willow can't come back if the Mayor, had killed them after achieving his goal of ascension during graduation day.
The Mayor's deputy was the one who told the Scoobies the Mayor's plans after having a close call with Buffy and Faith. The two Slayers had just finished fighting ten vampires that served a demon called Balthazar. In the aftermath of the fight, the Deputy Mayor, who was hiding in the shadows, reached out and grabbed Buffy's shoulder. The Slayer, who was already full of adrenaline, grabbed the man she thought was a vampire, and then pushed him into the side of a dumpster. Faith, who was in the same situation as Buffy, dashed past the blonde Slayer with a stake raised high in the air.
"Faith! No!" screamed Buffy when she sensed something, the man she hit was a human.
Faith stopped the stake just before it pierced the man's chest, and looked back at Buffy with her eyes wide open at the relief of Buffy's face. Faith then looked at the Deputy Mayor's terrified face, suddenly thankful for the training sessions in improving her reflexes with Giles and Wesley.
"He's human," she panted while running towards Faith, who quickly put away the stake, and stepped back from the deputy, "aren't you?"
"Ye.. yes," replied the Deputy Mayor as Faith and Buffy helped him up to his feet.
The two Slayer's then took the Deputy Mayor to the library, where he told the Scoobies about the ascension, and that the Mayor was invincible at that moment. Nothing could stop him from ascending.
"He said that he'll be invincible for a hundred days, which would be when the ascension is meant to take place," claimed the deputy Mayor.
Although they hated to do so, the Scoobies shifted their resources from finding a way to bring Willow home, to finding out more about the present threat; that of the ascension. The Deputy Mayor, Alan Finch, gave inside information to the Scoobies, while he was acting as their double agent against the Mayor. While they received information from Deputy Mayor Finch, the Scoobies biggest break came in the form of a demon named Skyler. He approached Buffy and Faith during a patrol, offering them what he referred to as the Books of Ascension, a five volume piece of work that detailed the ascension process.
And he was willing to sell it to them for five thousand dollars.
"Seriously?" asked Buffy while Faith arched an eyebrow, "five thousand?"
"Or I could go to the Mayor and sell it to him," said Skyler, who was about to say something when Faith interrupted him.
"Or we… you know, we're Slayers, we could just kill you and take the books… I mean you are a demon," smirked Faith as the demon stepped back in fear before looking at Buffy.
"Three thousand," said the demon, his voice trembling, "the books and my life for three thousand dollars. That's not too much to ask. If the Mayor gets these books? Then it's the end, and I'd like to make enough money to get out of Sunnydale."
Buffy and Faith looked at each other, and the both of them sighed at the same time. Buffy was holding onto Faiths arm when the dark haired Slayer whispered that she was going to beat on the demon a little so that he'd drive the price down even more. Buffy disagreed, saying that the demon seemed harmless and genuinely scared about the ascension; the blonde Slayer told the demon to follow them, that he needed to talk to Giles and Wesley.
It was the next day that the Books of Ascension were on a flight to the Watchers Council in London; Wesley, whose bank account was down by three thousand dollars after paying for the books, was going to personally deliver the books to the Council's archives so that Wilkins, or any other demon for that matter, could not get a hold of them. With the books out of play, Giles and the others felt as if they could finally beat the Mayor at his plans for ascension. However, Finch gave them some information a few weeks later on a box arriving at a private airfield in the outskirts of Sunnydale. He told them, in their pre-established way of contacting each other, that the Mayor, a day before the graduation, was expecting the Box of Gavrok. He had been told by one of the demons that he owed his immortality to, that the Box was an important part of the process. It was the final ingredient in his quest to ascend.
Thanks to the information from Finch, Buffy and Faith were at the airfield to intercept the Box.
Buffy killed the courier who brought the Box out of the plane, and was about to hand in to Mr. Trick. And Faith, who was hidden in darkness while on top of a building, shot an arrow through Mr. Trick's chest, dusting him. The both of them then took the Box back to the library where Althanea had readied magical flame, a spell given to her by the Devon Coven, that was set to destroy the box. At the same time that the Box was burning, three of the Council's Special Operations teams, called in by Wesley who informed the Council of the danger that the Mayor represented, killed the vampires that surrounded him. They then sedated the Mayor while Finch was 'on leave', before stealing his unconscious body away in the dead of night.
It was Finch who attended the Graduation ceremony the next day on Wilkins' behalf. By the time the moment of ascension came, and went, Finch had just finished giving the speech that he found on the Mayor's desk. He then shook hands with the student body, in particular whispering thanks to Buffy, Cordelia, and Xander, for what they had done in saving Sunnydale. He glanced out at the crowd at Joyce, Althanea, Faith, and Giles as they cheered when the three Scoobies walked the stage.
The man would take over as Mayor a few days later, after a news report was released that, while on a trip to the airport, Mayor Richard Wilkins' car was found by the side of the road. The car was burning.
When the fire was put out, a lone body was found in the backseat. The body was burned beyond visual recognition, and had a gunshot wound in the middle of the forehead. Tests would later show that the body was of the former Mayor Wilkins. In reality, the body was that of a clone that the Council's Los Angeles arm had created, a perfect facsimile cloned from Wilkins' DNA, which was taken just before his unconscious body was taken by private jet to London. It was deep underneath the Council's Manchester branch, that the finally conscious, and vulnerable Wilkins awoke.
He screamed at the hooded people in front of him, while his hands were chained to the floor, that he could not die. He was immortal thanks to the deals he made with demons. The hooded people in front of him said they knew what he was, and that he would not die. But he could be incapacitated since the hundred days had passed, and he failed to ascend. Wilkins screamed as a broadsword sliced through his neck, separating his head from his body. He was still aware of what was going on, but unable to move as his head rolled on the floor. He watched the hooded people bury his body in the ground, and then they performed spells on his head. He screamed profanities at them, until they tied his mouth shut.
Eventually, the head was mystically transported to the bottom of the Mariana Trench; the deepest part of the Earth's oceans. His head would lie there, alone, for all time.
In the meantime, the police investigation went on to finding out who murdered the Mayor; an investigation that would eventually go cold in a few months. By that time, Willow's case was already considered a cold case since there were no more leads for the detectives to go through, much to the sorrow of the Rosenberg's. However, Buffy and the others still gave the redhead's parents their support that Willow will be found, that other departments would still keep on looking for her.
The Scoobies, with the threat of Wilkins gone, knew that now they needed to pull together and bring Willow back. However, not all of them was able to stay in Sunnydale. Cordelia, who had earlier broken up with Xander after the Prom, had left Sunnydale for Los Angeles. She told Xander that her family lost everything thanks to her father not paying his taxes. She said that she had no choice but to move away with her mother, that they were going to stay with family in Los Angeles. Cordelia said that her uncle owned a talent agency, and she hoped that he'd help her to get a job.
It was something that Xander hated; to see someone he cared about leaving.
She left a few weeks later, making the Scoobies promise to call her once they brought back Willow.
Los Angeles, 2300 hours; year and a half after Willow was sent to Hell.
It would be nearly a year later that Angel had a big breakthrough of his own. It had taken some time, but eventually he, Doyle, and Lily built up Angel Investigations, a private detective agency that would, as Lily described themselves, helping the helpless. Angel never forgot about his promise of finding a way to bring Willow back to Earth; he and Doyle, and later a very stunned Lily who was finally read into what Angel had done, helped in searching to find way to bring Willow back.
At the same time, they investigated Doyle's visions.
As far as the work on finding Willow went, Angel's luck was the same as Giles' luck back in Sunnydale. They had no leads that would bring back Willow safely.
However, there was one night that Doyle had received a vision of a demon murdering an old man. Doyle told Angel that the old man was located underneath a building, it was an underground book store. He saw the demon killing the man, and then stealing a scroll.
"Death and destruction, Angel," said Doyle as Angel frowned while Lily went to get a book from their limited collection, "I saw a portal open, the sky turning dark, storms everywhere... never-ending rain… floods, destruction, demons coming through the portal. Name it, it's all in the vision."
"You know where it is?" asked Angel as Doyle nodded his head, "move out."
Angel and his team; Doyle carrying an axe, Lily a crossbow, and Angel himself carrying a sword, smashed through the door of the shop just as the demon was about to kill the old man. The demon turned to face Angel and his team after throwing the old man to one side. He tumbled over his counter, before falling the ground behind it and groaning. The demon attacked Angel, sensing him as the greater threat, while Lily, who Angel had been training with Doyle, moved to one side and tried to get a good shot on the demon. She was very conscious that she was firing a wooden arrow, and she didn't want to hit Angel.
Just as she had a good shot, Lily felt something hitting her leg.
Looking down after shooting the demon's back, before it swung at Angel who then ducked and stabbed the demon on its side, and after Doyle buried the axe in its back, Lily crouched down and picked up the scroll. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Angel behead the demon while she opened a scroll, and then looked up and around her surroundings. She wondered how the scroll landed at her feet. She walked over to the counter while Doyle was panting and looking at Angel, and then at her while Lily herself looked behind the counter at the shivering old man.
"You're safe now," said Lily gently as she handed the scroll to Doyle. Lily then extended her hand and smiled as the old man grabbed a hold, and the young woman slowly pulled him up.
"Thank you," replied the grateful old man whose eyes opened wide when he saw the dead demon on the floor, while Angel walked over its body and headed for the counter. And then the old man saw the surprised Doyle reading the Scroll in his hand, "how did… how did you get that scroll?"
"Angel," said Doyle while he was looking at the scroll, ignoring the question from the old man,, "this… oh dear, this is what we've been looking for… the way to bring Willow home. Angel, this… this is ancient… I… know the language but it hasn't been used for ages… oh my."
"You… you…" stammered the old man, still in surprise at how Doyle got a hold of the scroll. But he was interrupted from asking his question by Angel.
"How much for the scroll?" Angel excitedly asked as he looked at the old man while he reached into his pocket. He didn't want to know how the old man came upon the scroll; or why, before entering the store, Doyle said that the store was surrounded by magic. All he cared about now was that they had a possible way to bring Willow back, at least according to Doyle. And Angel wasn't going to ask any questions… he made a promise that he'll help bring her back, and that's what he was going to do. Angel took out his wallet and placed three hundred dollars on the counter, telling the old man that was all he had on him, "please… I… I made a mistake and a dear friend of mine paid for that mistake. I don't know what's in the scroll and…"
"It's a spell to bring back someone who's been lost," said the old man, "a very powerful spell that would reach all the way into any and all heavenly or hellish dimension, and bring someone back. But it could only be used once, self-destructing after it's been used. It's dangerous, I mean… unlike other spells, this won't cause a backlash… but the person coming back may not be the same as when they went in."
"I don't care," replied Angel, "she has friends who can bring her back to who she was.. and that's if she comes back different. Please, will three hundred dollars be enough?"
"Take the scroll," said the old man softly as he returned the money to Angel, "as thanks for saving my life, and my book store. I know you want to ask questions; all I can say is that I'm a collector. I've used magic to hide my… collection of rare books and magic scrolls, among other things. I don't know how that demon found me… but perhaps I could pay you to find out how he discovered my store?"
"Agreed," said Angel nodding his head.
"Good luck," said the old man as an excited Angel ran out of the door, followed soon by Doyle and Lily.
Angel sent the scroll to Giles the next morning. Or to be more accurate, Doyle mailed the scroll, along with his translated instructions, to the Watcher. Angel wanted to go to Sunnydale and help, but he knew that he was 'persona non-grata'; that not even Buffy had spoken to him over the months since Willow's death.
He knew he deserved it. All he asked from Giles in a letter, that was sent together with the scrolls, was that he be called once Willow was back on Earth.
Angel wanted to make sure that Willow was stable, and offered to do whatever he could to help make amends. Even though it was very unlikely he would ever be asked.
TBC.