Chapter 8:

This was definitely turning out to be a very, very strange night, Giles resolved. A few hours ago he had thought it nothing special, just another night where the monsters would prey on the town of Sunnydale because there was no Slayer there to stop them.

Then a Slayer had arrived, though she was not his Slayer. Giles had forced himself to suppress the very irrational dislike he had immediately felt for Ashley because of her being here instead of Buffy. He had been the one to call her, after all. Had called her because his Slayer, Buffy, was not capable of fulfilling her duties at this moment in time.

Ashley had vanished but a short time after her arrival, though, something that her Watcher, Mrs. Post, made sure to remind him off about every twenty seconds or so. Was it his fault that she had no control over her Slayer? He tried to remember the number of times when he had actually been capable of making Buffy do something against her will. Not a lot of occasions sprang to mind.

Now Xander and Oz had arrived, the two boys still looking worn and bruised despite not having hunted vampires tonight. Oz had been stoic as always, which was probably good thing as Xander had wasted no time quizzing him on the strange woman with him, making some rather suggestive remarks concerning things that two British people of opposite sex might do together. Mrs. Post was not amused.

They had been about to go out to look for Ashley, knowing that Willow was doing her nightly visit to Buffy at the moment, when the library doors had opened again to allow no less than four newcomers entry.

That had been about five minutes ago, Giles estimated, and he was still staring.

"Are you going to say something, Giles?" Buffy raised her eyebrow at him when her patience finally ran out.

Giles shook his head, trying to dispel the shock. "I ... well, I ... Angela?"

The dark-haired vampire stepped out from behind Buffy, slowly approaching the librarian. Her entire posture seemed to be screaming of her unease. Giles needed a moment to realize why that was. Of course, this was not the human woman they had spent time with for several months before her ... death? Disappearance? He had not seen her change back to what she had been before that and only now did it sink in.

This was a vampire once again, a demon living in a human body. Inside this deceptive exterior was the demon who had nearly killed Jenny, who still had not woken from her coma. The demon who had tortured him within an inch of his life, who had run Buffy through with a sword, and nearly sent the entire world tumbling down into Hell.

All behind those dark brown eyes who looked at him with so much confusion.

"Hello, Giles," Angela just said, giving him the barest hint of a smile.

Finally, not trusting his voice, Giles just grasped one of her hands in both of his, an answering smile blooming on his own face. Demon or not, this woman was the reason that Buffy had survived her first year as the Slayer, who had kept guard over her at those times when Giles could not. Yes, there was wariness now, lots of it, but if nothing else their separation had shown him beyond the shadow of a doubt that Angela and Angelus were two different entities who just happened to share the same body once again.

"How ...?" Giles finally managed.

"A long story."

"She hasn't even told me yet," Buffy added, stepping closer to both of them. "Back to being mysterious, are you?"

Giles looked at his young charge and easily penetrated past the appearance of nonchalance she had put up. For this last month Buffy had been a wreck, torn into pieces by the events of that one fatal night. Now, though, she was positively glowing, barely able to stand still. The wounds were still there, he had no doubt about that, but it looked like that Angela's return had gone a long way toward mending them.

For that alone Giles would be eternally thankful to the vampire whose hand he still held.

"Glad to have you back," he said.

"Glad to be back."

Xander and Oz were still standing some feet away, looking at the reunion. Willow joined them, taking in their very different reactions to things. From looking at Oz one would think that nothing out of the ordinary had happened here, just business at usual. Willow had gotten better at reading her boyfriend's emotions, though, and she could tell he was quite happy.

One did not need any special insight to figure out Xander. He was opening and closing his mouth, fidgeting, obviously looking for some sort of pun to overplay his confusion but coming up empty.

"She's back," was all he finally got out. "Angela's back."

The vampire turned toward the two boys, giving them a smile. "Good to see you, too, Xander. Oz."

The mood of happy reunion was finally broken when Mrs. Post cleared her throat.

"This is the infamous Angela then, I presume."

Giles turned around to face her, having almost managed to forget her presence.

"And you would be?" Angela was looking back at the Watcher, frowning at the other woman's tone.

"Gwendolyn Post," she introduced herself, her voice suggesting that this was a major courtesy on her part, and quite a painful one, too.

"She is a Watcher," Giles added.

"A Watcher with quite a few open questions," Post said coldly, turning her gaze on Ashley. The white-haired girl fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable.

Seeing as the room temperature seemed to have dropped quite a few degrees in the last minute Giles decided that the situation needed some defusing.

"Why don't we all sit down," he gestured toward the library table. "I'll make us some tea. I imagine that answering all our various questions will take a little time."

Everyone found a seat in short order and Giles was not surprised by the sitting arrangements. Buffy was sitting very close to Angela, their bodies touching. Willow was sitting next to them, smiling happily, with Oz by her side. Next came Xander, who tried not to be too obvious about his staring at Angela and failed miserably.

Mrs. Post sat as far away from the teenagers and the vampire as the table allowed. Ashley was on her right, though the girl was obviously not very happy at sitting there. As he watched she was scooting back and forth with the chair, trying to inch away from Post one millimeter at a time.

These two obviously had not the most social of working relationships, Giles mused.

Unfortunately the seating arrangements were so that the only empty chair remaining stood just to the left of Mrs. Post. With a sigh Giles took the seat, dispensing tea to those who would have it. Angela gratefully took a cup, after which Post hesitated a moment before taking one of her own. Ashley seemed more interested in fiddling with the cup than actually drinking its contents.

"Well then," Giles said when everyone seemed as comfortable as they were going to get. "Angela, why don't you start."

It took about twenty minutes for Angela to relate the story of what had happened. She told them of the night in the mansion, where she had seen no other way but to invoke the spell that would reunite her with the demon. How it had been too late, though, as Akathler had already been awakened. How she had learned that only one thing that could possibly close the gate was sacrificing the one who had opened it, the one who was a part of her once more. She felt Buffy tremble as she related how she had done what was necessary and stepped through the portal into Hell.

Only she had never gotten there. She told them how some kind of higher power had intervened, the same entities who had originally given her the mission of protecting the Slayer. How these powers had then sent her back to Earth, though why they had waited a month to do that she could not say.

Angela left out but two things. She did not tell them of the things she had learned about her own nature while in Heaven's waiting room, that she had been born only when the Gypsies had cursed Angelus and used a soul from the sea of unborn life to do so. She was not ready to share that particular revelation with anyone yet, especially not when two strangers were listening as well.

The reasons for her neglecting to mention that she had been given a choice in returning to Earth were much simpler than that. Buffy was hurting still, fragile from what she had gone through. The last thing she needed to know was that Angela had chosen returning to her over being at peace in Heaven. Angela was sure that Buffy would find some way of blaming herself for that should she ever find out. They were rather alike in that way, she mused.

"That is quite a fantastic tale," Giles said, cleaning his glasses. "I have heard tales of divine intervention before, but this ..." His voice trailed off.

Angela saw that the other Watcher, Mrs. Post, seemed far more skeptical than Giles. She shrugged. Convincing the Englishwoman of the truthfulness of her account was not particularly essential to her.

"When I had somewhat recovered from my return," Angela looked at Ashley, "I went by the library. I imagine that is where you started following me."

"Yeah, I ... sorry, Mrs. Post, but when I saw her outside the window every instinct inside me was screaming at me to go after her. I know I should have said something first, but ..."

"Quite correct, you should have," Post interrupted her, "and don't think you are out of trouble for that, young lady. For the moment, though, I fear we have more important things to worry about."

Throwing the occasional suspicious glare at Angela Post related the information they had about the demon Lagos and the Glove of Mynhegon. Lagos did not ring a bell, but Angela had heard of the glove, therefore she had to admit that Post had her priorities in order, at least. An artifact of such power could not be allowed to fall into a demon's hand.

"We should start by researching possible resting places of the glove," Giles told everyone. "From what we know about Lagos he is quite a strong specimen, but does not hold any special power or protection. Dispatching him in the usual ways should be possible."

"Beheading, gutting, staking, you mean those?" Xander had finally managed to overcome most of his shock.

Giles just nodded, then looked at Angela. "The sun will be up in a few hours and I imagine ... I mean, after what you went through ..."

"A few hours of rest, yes," Angela finished for him. "Thanks!"

"We will call you should we find anything."

Angela rose, not particularly surprised that Buffy moved along with her. The Slayer obviously had no intention of letting her out of her sight. Giles seemed about to object, but did not say anything. Willow just gave Buffy a happy smile.

A few minutes later Post and Ashley left, Post obviously intending to have some words with her Slayer. Which left Giles, Willow, Xander, and Oz, along with quite a few books spread over the table.

"You know," Xander said, "I wonder whether this is actually preferable to nearly getting killed every night."

TO BE CONTINUED