BTVS, Angel and Charmed characters do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Spoilers: Up until the Season 5 episode The Body (just to be safe).
Author's Note: First of all thank you for all the kind comments and words of encouragement. I have limited skills with the site so I apologize that I have not been able to reply to you directy. Secondly, there was a question about Glory's appearance and looking back at the last chapter I can see where there might be some confusion. This story takes place sometime after the episode Checkpoint but before the episode The Body. Buffy has already smacked the Council and they've told her Glory is a god. Also, the Sunnydale crew knows that Dawn is The Key.
Angel paced inside the monastery just north of Los Angeles. Looking around the deserted room he wondered, not for the first time, if he was on a wild goose chase. As far as he knew his two-way link to the Powers had been severed when the Oracles were murdered by Wolfram and Hart. But Merl had been quite insistent that he could make contact with something powerful here. He dropped the Amulet of Cauldis that he had poached from the Magic Box into the donations bin and sat down on a wooden pew to wait.
Unbeknownst to the fuming vampire, the Oracles had not been destroyed by Wolfram and Hart. In a dimension that was slightly shifted from his own, they were able to observe him without fear that even his supernatural senses would be able to detect them.
"Look at him, brother. He has learned nothing this year. In fact, he strays further from his path than before."
"Sister, we must be patient with him. His is a difficult path."
She scoffed. "Not so difficult as what we demand of the Slayers. I've said it before, brother, he is weak. He was supposed to aid the Slayer against the Master, not interfere with her bond with her Watcher. And certainly not to try and claim her! You concealed his botched claim on the Slayer and now we must correct this error or risk the censure of the Powers."
"Sister, the claim failed. There is no need for us to intervene."
"NO! It leaves her vulnerable to the Dark Forces. Dracula almost succeeded in enthralling her. Not to mention the damage it has done to her personal relationships. We fix this now, brother."
"Her personal relationships are irrelevant. She is the Slayer. Her duty is to slay the forces of evil. That has not been impaired by Angelus' partial claim."
"The Slayer is the Champion of Light. Her relationships are what keeps her grounded in humanity. It is the reason this Slayer has been so successful."
"But a claim can only be broken by one of their deaths. The Powers will not want to lose a Champion in order for the Slayer to be 'happy'."
"You're wrong, brother. I feared you would be still be unwilling to correct this injustice, so I alerted the Powers."
There was a thunderclap and a blinding light, followed by a terrible shaking. The male Oracle grabbed his head with both hands and doubled over in pain. He trembled visibly and fell to his knees. His sister looked on with some sympathy as her brother was dealt with by the Powers. She hated that it had come to this, but he had become arrogant, much like his favored 'champion'. He had taken the absence of direct intervention by the Powers as a sign of their implicit approval of his actions. But Evil, through its agents like Wolfram and Hart, had gotten much stronger and the balance was in jeopardy. Her brother, now enveloped in a green light, was transported away. Her instructions from the Powers brushed whisper-like across her mind.
Angel jumped to his feet and demanded of the ethereal spirit, "What the hell happened to Buffy? You have to fix it, NOW!"
Her instructions from the Powers were to give the vampire one last chance. "To fix the Slayer you must perform the Ritual of Cauldis. Only the amulet that you brought as an offering and a small amount of your blood are needed."
A scroll appeared at the vampire's feet. Angel glanced at the writing, surprised that he could read it. "It's in Latin?"
"This surprises you? It is a cleansing ritual, did you expect it to be in a demonic language?"
He looked again at the scroll. "Is there a special location or time needed?"
"No. The Slayer is in grave danger. The ritual should be performed as soon as you are ready. "
"I'll leave for Sunnydale at dusk."
"Is there some reason you cannot do the ritual now? It is a simple incantation requiring a small amount of your blood and the amulet. You are fluent in Latin and have performed more complicated spells."
"But Buffy … "
"Is not needed for the ritual. Once the incantation is complete, the Slayer will be righted. Are you coward or Champion?"
As the fury rose up in Angel, the Oracle reconsidered the wisdom of goading the vampire. But to her relief, he withdrew a small knife from his coat and began the ritual. When his blood dripped onto the amulet a gale force wind slammed through the monastery. Angel fell to his knees, grabbing his heart. "Buffy!" he screamed.
The wind stopped and the vampire made an aborted rush towards the Oracle. His rage so great that he hadn't considered that she was ethereal and therefore immune to his physical attack. "What the HELL did you do? I can't feel Buffy anymore. If you've hurt her …"
"Silence!" The Oracle commanded. "You forget your place vampire. The Slayer is unharmed. In fact, the ritual reversed the damage you caused when you tried to claim her."
Angel's eyes widened and he began to deny it.
"I said SILENCE!" Suddenly, Angel found he was no longer able to speak. "You were in possession of your soul when you initiated the Rite of Claim. And did you ask the Slayer her consent or even inform her of it?"
She released the silence spell so that he could answer. "Vampires don't ask permission for the Rite of Claim," he sneered. "Buffy loves me. She's MINE. She would have agreed if I had asked. We're forever."
"She is NOT yours. She is not a possession, a reward or something to be controlled. She is THE Champion of the Light. The Powers gave you a final chance. Had you refused to revoke your claim, your existence would have been ended."
"You didn't give me a choice! You told me this was to fix Buffy. To return her to her proper age! I didn't know it had anything to do with my Claim."
"No. I said it would 'fix' the Slayer. You leapt to your own conclusions as to the nature of the ritual. And it was necessary to release the claim in order for her to return to her proper age."
"I don't believe you."
"It is done. The botched claim has been released and you still exist. The Slayer will return to her own age very soon. Watch yourself, vampire. You are on shaky ground with the Powers right now." With a small flash of light, the Oracle was gone, leaving a furious vampire to wait out the daylight alone.
On a minor highway in western Nevada, two nondescript vehicles traveled east. As Angel completed the Ritual of Cauldis, a green light, invisible to the passengers within, enveloped the two cars. Buffy stirred in her mother's arms but did not rouse from the Morpheus spell her Watcher had cast a few hours ago. Beneath her t-shirt, the permanent scar from Angel's claim disappeared. She snuggled closer to her mother as she fell into a REM sleep.
Meanwhile, in Sunnydale, Quentin Travers and his entourage arrived at the Magic Box. He turned to one of his bodyguards, "Close the shop until further notice."
Giles folded his arms across his chest, "Is all this really necessary, Quentin?" He spared an apologetic smile to one of his regular customers that was being hustled out.
When the last of the customers were out and the doors were secured, Travers helped himself to Giles' scotch. "I've been hearing some disturbing rumors, Rupert. Rumors that the Slayer has not been patrolling. In fact, hasn't been seen in Sunnydale for a few days."
"Her mother has been ill, Quentin, as I'm sure I told you when i was in London last month. Her friends and I have taken a few of her patrols so she could take care of her mother."
"Really? Funny, as Joyce Summers was not in the hospital when we stopped by before coming here. Nor was she at home, or at her art gallery. In fact, her gallery had a 'closed for family emergency' sign on the door, and looks as if it has been closed for some time." He stared at Giles, daring him to dispute it.