"We put you in the book cage as a precaution." Giles told him. "This would be easier if you remembered. I'm afraid Angel has returned from Acathla's Hell. You discovered this when you investigated lights in Crawford Mansion. At the same time you also discovered that Buffy was well aware of that fact and had been keeping it from us."
"Great, let me guess, it wasn't all that different from the party where she couldn't seem to understand how her choices caused problems for everybody."
"She felt you were the one being selfish and refusing to understand her feelings."
"Of course she was, she did at the party too. Tried to make fun of me instead of accepting that people were hurt because of her. I don't see how that makes me the selfish one. I didn't run away and let people think I'd been killed by Angelus."
"Anyway, Buffy wished for you to understand what her life is like. It turns out there was a demon nearby, a vengeance demon to be precise. They grant wishes with the intent of causing pain and misery. We have no idea what affect granting the wish has had on you. That's why you're in the book cage, until we can determine if you've become a danger."
"And of course Buffy will Slay me if I am, right? It's her job after all, to Slay the monsters. Unless she's in love with the monster in question of course."
Buffy glared at him. "Angel's not a monster!"
"He's a vampire, Buffy, by definition they're monsters."
"He has a soul!"
"And you're sure about that? And plenty of humans with souls are monsters too. It doesn't change the facts, he's a demon occupying a dead body." Xander rubbed his head. "That wish seems to have put a lot of info in my head. Reminds me of Halloween and waking up the next day still remembering everything a soldier knows. I think I know something...you being involved with Angel is a crime."
"What are you talking about?!" Buffy demanded. "The law doesn't even know vampires exist!"
"It knows dead bodies exist. It's called necrophilia, sex with a corpse. Violates both man's law and religious law. Man's law because corpses carry diseases."
"Ohh, gross!" Cordelia exclaimed. "You mean Angel could have given Buffy a demon STD?!"
"Or a regular one or any number of other diseases. Dead bodies use to be used as germ warfare. Vampires are dead bodies run by a demon, a soul doesn't change that. And yeah, gross." Xander agreed. "So, what are we doing about this vengeance demon?"
"We believe we know who it is and we are going to summon her." Giles answered. "Breaking her power center should break the wish and reverse the effect. You said there's information in your head that wasn't there e before, what sort of information?"
"I don't know, I'm trying to make sense of it. Supernatural law, I think Buffy's broken a lot of laws or at least laws that relate to the supernatural. Involvement with the enemy, because vampires are the enemy. Failure to do her job and letting Angelus go, failure to stop him from killing humans and torturing you. Legally it makes her an accessory to those crimes. If the law recognized vampires and vampire Slayers. What I've got in my head makes it seem like the law does recognize both."
"I'd like to see how you would have dealt with having to destroy someone you love!" Buffy said angrily.
"His name was Jesse McNally." Xander answered. "And Giles told me to remember, he wasn't my friend anymore, he was the thing that killed my friend. Two days after I found out vampires existed and a day after Jesse McNally died and a demon took over his body, he dusted on a stake I held to his chest. He was my best friend, my brother. I do know, Buffy. It kills a piece of you and becomes a nightmare that drags you screaming from sleep. Don't ever say I don't know what it's like, because I knew before you did."
Silence filled the Library as they processed that statement.
"It's not, it's not the same thing." Buffy protested.
"We love people in different ways, Buffy, but it's still love. I love Willow in a 'she's my sister' kinda way and Cordelia in a 'I want you to be my happy ever after' kinda way. It would kill me if either ended up vampires. But you know what? Dying while taking out the demons wearing their bodies like they're the lastest fashion accessories would take care of that."
"You expect me to die?"
"No, Buffy, I was talking about me. You couldn't deal with Angelus, but the thing is, the entire thing was foreseeable. You're a vampire Slayer and Angel's a vampire. There was never going to be a happy ending and I get that, like Cordelia said as the party, you thought you and he had something in common, but it doesn't change any of the facts. Whether there's a soul in him or not, Angel is still a dead body with a demon in it and as long as he is, it's illegal and immoral for you to be involved with him."