In a move faster than anyone could track, the Slayer sped after the projectile vamp and pinned him to the wall by his neck. Looking at Oz, she was surprised to find that he hadn't fully changed. She locked gazes with him, reaching out to the Wolf as she had the day before, this time without the aid of magic, until he visibly calmed and the Wolf retreated. Then she turned back to Angel. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she growled.

He gasped. "Your eyes." They were glowing. The centers swirled with all the colors of the rainbow, surrounded by a ring of solid gold.

"So not the point right now."

Angel glared past her at Oz. "I thought he was going to attack you. No one attacks what's mine."

Buffy's low and sibilant, "What did you say?" far outweighed Cordelia's screech of outrage. Everyone watched her carefully.

"Buffy, I…" he began, pleadingly.

"No." The simple word carried her power in waves around the room. "Let's get this straight once and for all. I am not yours. I don't even have blond hair anymore, so I'm not your type."

She dropped him to the floor and he grabbed her possessively, Angelus raging within him. In some deep part of his conscious, Angel was aware that he was losing control of his beast. Just like he had when Darla was resurrected. "You're wrong. You are MINE, you don't understand," he insisted desperately, his frustration over her behavior finally getting the best of him.

Buffy laughed and shrugged him off. "Oh, but I do." She turned away, but when he lunged at her from behind, she spun swiftly and pinned him back against the wall. "You're being rude, vampire. Now listen, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. I know all about how you claimed me without my permission."

Everyone in the hotel gasped, and she distinctively heard a low growl from Oz. Wesley, who'd been standing frozen at the top of the stairs watching the scene unfold, felt rage the likes of which he'd never experienced.

The Slayer continued her tirade. "How you took advantage of the greatest gift I could ever give you; my blood for your life, and you twisted it. You claimed me so that I couldn't feel whole without you. And then you left, without even telling me what you'd done. My heart shattered, and it stayed shattered for years because of you. I never got to heal. I never got to love anyone properly. Because you kept that part of me for yourself."

"Buffy, I was desperate. Your mom, Giles, your friends, they were all running me out of town, but I couldn't bear to leave you," Angel gurgled defensively. "I just wanted to bind us together until I could find a solution. And I have!" He implored her with his eyes to believe him. "There's this prophecy…"

"I know all about your stupid prophecy," she spat. "You know what? I definitely like Angelus better. At least he isn't a bloody fool."

"Bloody?" he choked out, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Got that from Spike," she smirked, her expression implying that she'd gotten a lot more. "This duster, too." Angel's face morphed and he tried to wriggle out of her grasp, prompting Buffy to smash his head back into the wall hard enough to stun him. "That's not the point. The point is that if you weren't so bloody stupid, you'd realize what a crock of shit that prophecy is."

"No," he gasped when she finally let him go. "It's from the Powers. It's my reward for…"

She waved a hand to cut him off. "How moronic do you have to be to believe that the Powers would make you human again?" She snorted derisively before continuing. "They don't reward anyone, Angelcakes. Don't you realize that by chasing this pipe dream, you're ensuring that you'll never achieve redemption? You're not saving lives because it's right anymore; you're saving lives to get paid, in dollars AND in karma points."

"But Buffy, I became human once, and the Oracles told me my fight was over; that I could live in peace. I chose to become a vampire again for YOU. To save your life," he said triumphantly. "You just don't remember it, that was part of the deal."

"Oh, I remember." Her voice grated. "When I was resurrected, I regained the memory of our lost day. But listen. You told me that you had to give up being human because the Oracles said it would tip the scales in Evil's favor, and that I'd die. And you bought it. Have you forgotten what happened the very next year despite your valiant sacrifice? I died anyway. Did it never occur to you that the whole thing might've been a hoax? That maybe those Oracles who've given you such great advice all these years don't have your best interests in mind?"

Angel's head was reeling with the weight of these revelations. It made sense now why she was trying to act as though the claim wasn't there. Pretending that she didn't feel him and need him was the best punishment she could administer. "How…" he began.

Her eyes traveled to land on Lorne, who nodded his assent, before answering. "Three years ago I discovered Caritas. Lorne sensed something was off about me, so he asked me to sing. That's how I found out. And you know what else I discovered? The mojo you put on me to hide the claim. It was a good job; I'll give you that. Even Spike didn't sense it."
The vampire growled angrily at Lorne, and began to stalk toward him menacingly, only vaguely aware that he was acting much more like a soulless vamp than a souled one. "How dare you mess in my business? This is my city, and you should know better than to cross me."

The Host flinched, but stood his ground. "I was just doing my job, Angelcakes; the Cream Puff needed my help."

"Right," Angel sneered sarcastically. "And we all believe helping people is your first priority. What happens if I say I want you out of L.A.? Hmm? Where will you go then?" he taunted. "Back to Pylea where they hate you?"

Buffy stepped between them. "I'm not finished; haven't made it to the big punch line yet." She shoved the vampire away from Lorne. "And, by the by, if you touch a hair on his lovely green head, it'll be the last thing you touch," she warned. "I will end you, and hold a parade on your ashes."

"Buffy," he pleaded.

"No. The thrall has gone out of our relationship, Poofter." She looked directly into his eyes and smiled. "And that's the punch line. I'm 100 claim free."

"That's impossible," Angel scoffed. "The only way to end it is death. The kind you're not resurrected from," he added. "We're just going to have to deal with this, Buffy. Now that you know, we can start spending more time together and work it out."

"Or," Buffy countered. "We have what's behind Door #2."

He regarded her cautiously. "What are you getting at?"

She pouted a little. "Pushy. Here's the deal. Apparently there's some sort of Slayer-y loophole where the claim can be broken if it's not reciprocated. And I gotta say, this is definitely going on my list of top ten things I like about being the Slayer. All it took was a little help from my friendly neighborhood Sorceress, and poof! No more claim." She took a deep breath, feeling the weight of everyone's curious stares.

"What does that mean?" he demanded.

She glared at his tone. "I don't think I owe you any more explanation than that."

Angel strode over to Buffy, focusing deeply on her form. Her true eyes gleamed at the perceived challenge. "It's gone," he murmured finally, feeling angry and bereft.

"Yes," she said simply.

It was too much for Angel to bear that the claim was gone and he hadn't noticed. When he blackmailed a warlock into hiding the evidence of the claim, he'd known the consequence was that he himself wouldn't be able to sense it until the spell was lifted. He hadn't cared, thinking that nothing could end the claim save death. He'd cared only that the magic didn't interrupt the claim's main purpose: to keep Buffy tied to him.

When he first left Sunnydale, he was angry at all the meddling her friends and family did in their relationship, and was unwilling to let the Slayer go, despite his words and actions to the contrary. His panic at losing her forever, coupled with Angelus' ecstatic urgings when he drank her blood, had prompted him to claim her. Then, when he'd discovered the Shanshu prophecy, he had justified the claim to himself with the knowledge that as soon as he became human, they could be together. These past few years, he'd become distracted with finding Connor, but had felt safe that Buffy would always be there.

Angelus howled to get out and avenge this betrayal. Angel's rage and that of his demon counterpart overlapped, as they had during the mess with Darla. Lunging suddenly at Buffy, he attacked her neck with his teeth to reestablish his claim. The occupants of the Hyperion were shocked to see Angel come un-tethered and bite his supposed soul mate. Oz and Wes jumped forward to help, but she waved them off. To their dismay, she allowed the bite.

Several seemingly endless moments later, Angel was catapulted violently away from Buffy by an unseen force. He landed hard on his back, and glared up at her, still in game face. "What did you do?" he growled. The Slayer grinned, but didn't respond. "Why didn't it work?" he demanded. "Why can't I feel it?"

She tossed her shimmering hair behind her casually. "Just a little protective mojo, Angelcakes. You can't claim me now."

"No!" he roared, desperate not to believe the truth of her words. "No!" He threw himself at her as she turned to walk away, but she anticipated his move and decked him. His body flew backward in the air to collide with the wall, and he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

An indeterminate amount of time later, he awoke to someone splashing water on his face. "Come on, Poofter, I've got a van to catch." Definitely the Slayer.

"Buffy," he said intelligently.

She smiled a little and hopped up. "Good, no brain damage."

"What's going on?" He looked around at the circle of faces staring down at him, feeling chagrined at his behavior. He couldn't believe he'd let the demon within take over, even for a minute. It reminded him of his slipup decades ago with the wounded shopkeeper, and more recently, of all the people he'd allowed Darla and Drusilla to kill at Wolfram & Hart.

"Well, I figured everyone's had more than enough of the Buffy & Angel show to last several lifetimes, so we're gonna head out now."

He leapt to his feet. "Wait," he begged. "Don't leave like this."

"Look, we clearly have a lot of pent up anger toward each other, and I doubt you feature getting knocked out again, so we should just leave it. We both need several decades to calm down. In the meantime, I have a patient to check on and a meeting to organize," she explained gently, seeing the remorse clearly written on his face.

"A patient?" Cordy interrupted, tone indicating how ridiculous it sounded. "What are you, Dr. Buffy now? Give me a break. Aren't you the girl that couldn't even remember where her classes were, and had to be tutored non-stop by Willow just to graduate high school?"

"Don't scoff, gang, I've seen her in action," Oz corrected. "She saved a guy's life last week."

"What, was there nothing good on T.V.?" the Queen sneered. "Isn't that what hospitals are for?"

"Not if you aren't fully human," he pointed out.

"Anyway," Buffy smoothed over, wanting to get this fiasco over with and go home, "Angel, I think Wes needs to chat now that you're awake and sane."

Wes approached Angel, an expression of resolve on his face. He'd managed during all the drama to sneak his two large duffels, one hanging bag, and one large box full of personal belongings downstairs into his office. "Angel…" he began.

"It's OK, Wes," the vampire interrupted him. "I know you're sorry about lying, just don't let it happen again."

The ex-Watcher grimaced. "That's actually not what we need to talk about."

Angel glared at him. "So you're not sorry? 'Cause I'm trying to work with you here, and..."

"Ha!" Buffy scoffed in the background, causing them both to stare at her. "Sorry," she muttered contritely.

"This isn't about the phone call," Wesley continued, choosing to ignore Angel's inane comments. "I just wanted to inform you that I'm leaving."

"Where are you going, and when will you be back," he demanded automatically, as was his custom every time the traitor left the hotel.

Wes sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You misunderstand. I'm leaving Angel Investigations," he explained.

There was a simultaneous exclamation of "What?" from every remaining member of A.I.

Angel turned on Buffy, livid. "Why don't you look surprised? You put him up to this didn't you?" Turning back to Wes, "Don't threaten me, boy."

"It's no threat. I am truly leaving."

"But you can't," Cordy insisted. "You work for us."

Wesley smiled. "Well, consider this me tendering my resignation."

Angel glowered, not even noticing in his self-righteous anger that his demon had once again surfaced and was screaming along with him for vengeance against the ex-Watcher. "Are you giving up on earning our forgiveness? Don't you want to fight the good fight and redeem yourself?"

"To answer your first question, I find I care little for your forgiveness these days. As for the second, I plan to keep fighting the good fight, just not here," he replied firmly.

The vampire chuckled. "What good can you do on your own? It seems to me like you're taking the easy way out, Wes. Or maybe you're still chaffing from that brief period when you were in charge here."

"Nothing of the sort," Wes assured him, "But you may think whatever you like."

"Where will you go? You don't have a job or a place to stay. Have you really thought this through?" Angel chided condescendingly, knowing this whole thing was just a ruse on the ex-Watcher's part to get something from him.

Wes struggled not to slap that expression right off his ex-boss' face. "I have both, actually, and I'm resolved to leave. I don't need your approval, I just thought I'd give you fair warning that I'm no longer at your beck and call."

"I'm calling your bluff, Wes. I don't know what you thought you'd gain from this, but I'm not biting." Buffy snickered and he glared at her.

"What? You walked right into that," she smirked.

Wesley shot a glance at the Slayer, and she nodded her consent. "This is no bluff. If you must know, I'm moving to Sunnydale."

After a moment of stunned silence, Cordy spoke. "What, is Buffy so lonely and pathetic that she came crawling back to you to be her Watcher again? Well, she can't have you! We need you here."

"It's amazing how little I care about what you need," Wes snapped, angry on his new partner's behalf.

"And no Watcher/Slayer creepiness," Buffy added. "I just made Wes an offer he couldn't refuse, which, considering how you've all been treating him isn't really saying much."

Wesley grinned. "She offered me a full partnership in both business and Hellmouth-related endeavors."

Angel focused his wrath on Buffy again. "How dare you come to my city and undermine my corporation this way? This is about me, isn't it? You're angry about the claim and you're getting back at me in any way you can."

She chuckled mirthfully. "I'm sure. I've known about the claim for almost three years. You think I waited until NOW to punish you? And that my best plan of attack is to go into business with Wes? Get a grip, Angel. This was never about you. I was content to spend the rest of my days without ever having this confrontation. Mostly because you're all soulful, and I'd have to experience guilt over rearranging your molecular structure so you fit in an ashtray. You're the one that shoved the whole claim fiasco in my face."

He had the grace to look slightly subdued. "Buffy, I know you're angry, and you have every right to be. But can't we talk about this? I only ever wanted to be with you."

"Nope. No more talk. It's time for you to focus on your mission again. Helping the helpless, remember that? I used to be proud of you." With that, she turned away from her former lover. "Well, goodbye everyone, I hope you enjoyed the show." She smiled at Fred and Gunn.

Angel, emotionally gutted, didn't even try to stop them as the foursome gathered Wes' belongings from his office and carried them out to the van.

No one spoke until they were well underway, having long since left Lorne at Caritas after Buffy extracted a promise from him that he'd consider her offer. They were nearly back in Sunnydale before she shook herself out of her brooding state. Her confrontation with Angel had left her exhausted. She'd been surprised both by the sheer force of her anger and by how much better she felt as soon as it was released. Fully getting over their messy relationship apparently hinged on having actual closure to the incident.

She was also surprised that she felt even freer than she had after the claim was removed. With a sudden flash of insight, she realized that her refusal to confront Angel all these years had been just another way to punish herself for her own past crimes. She also realized that Wes' calculated actions had been about more than just getting a little payback for himself. Feeling a telltale tingle at the base of her neck, she turned to face the back of the van and found her new partner watching her knowingly from his bucket seat.

With a small smile that said 'touché', her tone was deceptively light. "You're going to hell, Wes."

"I'm aware of it, thanks," he replied candidly, the briefest of smirks flitting across his face. "So," he prompted casually, pretending that he didn't know exactly what she'd been brooding about, "That was quite a show you put on today. How are you feeling?"

She growled. "Like I'm gonna have to find another use for those whips and chains," she trailed off threateningly.

"Lovely," he grinned cheerily. "You're a clever girl, I expect you'll work something out."