Giles pulled his glasses off his face and began to furiously clean his glasses. "Are you sure the soul's permanent dear girl?" he questioned nervously. While he didn't hold any particular affection for the vampire he knew his slayer was still very much in love with him and loathe he was to admit it, he knew that it wasn't the souled version of the vampire that killed his Jenny.
Xander, who had finally gotten over that crush he had on Buffy had finally realized that the souled vampire wasn't so bad; and if he was able to make his best friend/surrogate sister happy then he was all for it. He had seen what she was like with Riley and had seen how angry she got when Riley was condescending and treating her as if she weren't a slayer and couldn't handle herself. He was about to respond to Buffy and Angel's little bomb shell when Buffy beat him to the punch.
She was grinning ear to ear as she answered, "I'm positive Giles. I even called Cordy and Wes to be sure and they said that they went to the Oracles for the PtB to be sure that Angel's soul was permanent. And they confirmed it."
Giles nodded and placed his glasses back onto his face. "Be that as it may, I think we should be doubly sure. You remember the last time," he turned to Willow and Tara, "is there a spell or something similar that would help you check for his soul and whether it's permanent?"
Tara and Willow looked at one another and then at Giles nodding their agreement. Tara, who was able to see a person's aura, knew that the soul was there otherwise she wouldn't be able to see his aura. "Mr. Giles, t-t-t-the s-s-s-soul is there, but I'm not sure if it's permanent," she said, then looked at Buffy with a smile, "though it is reaching out for yours Buffy."
Buffy looked shocked. If what Tara said was true, then that meant that she and Angel were soul mates. The thought made Buffy even happier than she had been when she found out that Angel's soul was bound. She was about to say something, but was cut off when there was a flash of light.
As everyone re-opened their eyes, they saw what looked like a middle aged man dressed in a trench coat and fedora. Buffy, Angel, John, Dean and Sam's eyes all widened as they recognized the PtB spokes-demon.
"All right Whistler, what is it this time?" Buffy asked, her arms crossed over her chest and an annoyed look on her face.
Whistler moved his head and smiled at the Slayer and the Vampire who was standing behind her. "The Powers just wanted to tell you that they are pleased with the way things are going, and decided to give you and Angel-boy here a gift."
Xander spoke up, though is
"Congrats on the permanent soul dead-boy," he said with a slight grin as he leaned against the wall.
Angel looked at Xander and not sensing anything hostile from the younger man, returned the grin. "Thanks Xander, and stop calling me 'dead-boy', it gets annoying," he paused as something he had forgotten resurfaced. "Besides you don't want me calling you 'soldier boy' or 'hyena boy', do you?" he challenged the dark haired twenty-year-old.
Xander hung his head. The girls didn't know that Xander still had the memories of being the soldier from Halloween, nor did they know that he retained skills from that soldier, or that he still had some of the memories from when he was possessed by the hyena. While he violently disliked Angel, he knew the master vampire was right. He was about to reply to Angel's comment when the door opened and Riley Finn stepped inside.
The group looked at Riley, who had noticed Angel and the fact the dark haired vampire had his arms wrapped around Buffy's waist. His eyes then flickered to Buffy's face. Yes, there was shock on her face, but there was also a happiness in her eyes that just wasn't there when they were together. He knew then that his decision to leave with his unit and to break it off with Buffy was the right thing to do.
"Buffy, could I speak with you for a moment, alone please," he asked, his feet shuffling back and forth.
Buffy nodded and followed Riley outside. As the door shut behind them, Buffy placed her hands in her pockets as they both spoke at the same time, saying "I think we should break up" and "I'm not what you need in your life".
When they had both realized what they had said, the two laughed slightly. "I think we both had the same idea," Buffy said with a sad smile.
Riley nodded. "Seems so. Look Buffy, I am sorry I couldn't be the kind of guy you needed. If you ever need help…" he trailed off, but he meaning was clear to both of them. If the Scoobies ever needed more reinforcements she could count on him and his crew.
"Thanks Riley. I appreciate that," she told him, and she really did mean it. "Be careful out there, and the same goes for you, if you need help, just call okay?"
Riley smiled at her. For some reason it didn't seem to hurt as bad to let her go. But at least it wasn't bitter and they could still remain friends. He shook her hand in fair well and then left. After a few moments, Buffy walked back inside to find that everyone had taken seats.
Happy now that she didn't have to worry about Riley and that she could really have a relationship with Angel, Buffy smiled as she joined her family- her real and pseudo fathers, John and Giles; her real and pseudo brothers, Sam, Dean and Xander; and her pseudo sisters, Anya, Willow and Tara; and her boyfriend, Angel.
As she sat down on Angel's lap, she said, "All right, now that everyone is here, does anyone have anything to say about Angel and I getting back together and Riley and I breaking up?" When no one spoke up, she nodded, "Good, now let's see if we can't find a way to get rid of ADAM."