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Part 2
“Buff? Can you hear me?” Xander asked, his voice filled with concern. Buffy’s eyes fluttered, then with a groan she pushed herself up onto her elbow.
“Don’t try to sit up yet. Just lie there. We probably should’ve warned you, huh?” Willow said, grinning. A look of utter disbelief was on Buffy’s face.
“Oh my God. You’re kidding right? You’ve got to be kidding!!!” she whispered, and finally feeling strong enough, sat up slowly.
“Nope, it’s true,” Oz said and helped her up, guiding her over to a chair.
“Bu...but how? Where did you find it?” Buffy wondered.
“Ms. Calendar somehow changed the original curse that gave him his soul into one that would make him human. I don’t know how she kept it a secret...” Willow said, glancing at Buffy once again. Her eyes seemed to be shining.
“Okay. I’m gonna go get Angelus now before I faint again. You guys’ll set everything up, right?” they nodded, and she got up from the chair, a bit shakily at first, and went over to the metal cage, selecting a pair of handcuffs. Ooh, if Angel’s gonna be human, we could have some fun with these.... she thought and giggled. Bad girl Buffy. She also picked up a crowbar that was lying at the bottom of the metal locker. God, Giles really does have everything.
“Oh, Buffy, we called your mom and told her you had a big test tomorrow and would be spending the night at Willow’s. Just thought I’d tell you so you know she won’t be worried about where you are,” Cordelia said.
“Thanks.”
Turning, she waved to her friends and went in search of Angelus.
She decided to try the graveyard first. She practically skipped along, she was so happy. At last!!! She and Angel could be together. Forever. They could have a normal life together. That is, if Angel could forgive himself for everything that Angelus had done. Don’t spoil it, you’ll just have to make him forgive himself. Looking up, she saw she had reached the cemetery. Doing a quick sweep, she saw that the place was dead (no pun intended). He wasn’t there.
Turning, she decided to head to the Bronze. Even though it was closed, he could be lurking around, looking for a meal.
In a matter of minutes, she stood outside the Bronze, safely hidden in the shadows. She could sense him near. = Turning the corner, she saw he had cornered a girl and was about to bite her. Walking out of the shadows, she heard him say to her “You know...it’s been a while. I think I might have to put you to another use before I kill you.” Buffy could see the fear in the girl’s eyes, and how big they got when she realized what Angelus was about to do to her.
“What, cheating on me again? How many times have we been through this? First it was Dru, now her? And I thought we were doing so well with the whole trust issue again. Are we gonna have to go back to counseling?” Buffy asked, a smirk on her face. At the sound of her voice, Angelus had growled and straightened up. Turning, he glared at her.
“Well, you know, a guy has needs. Since you weren’t fulfilling them, I had to find someone that would,” he said, and slowly advanced toward her. The crowbar was hidden discreetly behind her back. “What brings you out this late, lover?” he taunted, standing right in front of her.
With one swift movement, she hit him squarely in the side of his skull, knocking him to the ground unconscious. “You.” With that, she handcuffed him and began the task of dragging him towards the school.
Reaching the library doors at 5:10, she pulled them open and dragged the still unconscious body of Angelus into the library. Looking up, she wiped her forehead, which had collected sweat along the way, and smiled at her friends. She was so lucky to have them. They were going to put aside their hatred to bring back the only man she would ever love. Maybe, in time, they would come to realize that Angel had had no control over what Angelus had done. Even though they said it, she knew none of them believed it. She just had to give them time. She would also have to find some way to repay them for all they’d done for her. Maybe save the world a couple more times or something simple like that for them.
“We’re ready, Buffy. Why don’t you put Angel--I mean Angelus--in there and we’ll begin.” Giles said, noticing her first.
Nodding, Buffy dragged him into the cage and stood over him, examining his head.. She had had to hit him again during the trip, and there were two bruises on the side of it, but because of his healing powers, they were already starting to fade. Kneeling beside him, she gently kissed the bruises. “Soon, baby. Soon.” Closing the door behind her, she locked it and stuck the key in her pocket.
“Let’s conjure up a soul, guys,” she stated, grinning at all of them.
“Okay, Buff, we really don’t need you to do anything right now--” Willow was suddenly cut off by three vampires entering the library. Reaching for her stake, Buffy ran towards them. Deciding to help, Xander grabbed one that had been lying on the counter and ran to help Buffy, who was busily trying to stake one of the vamps while keeping the other two off her back. Xander took one by the shirt collar and punched him in the jaw, wincing at the pain. Willow and Cordelia ran over to help him, and the three managed to hold the vamp still for a whole 2 seconds, but it was enough. Xander plunged the stake into it’s undead heart, and with a scream the vamp became a little pile of dust.
Meanwhile, Buffy was fighting the two vamps at once. She kicked one in the side of the head, sending him flying into the wall, and punched the other three times in rapid succession. With a final punch, the vamp fell to the floor, allowing Buffy to drive her handy-dandy stake into his heart. Turning, she saw the other vamp advancing on her and ran to meet her. Giving her a roundhouse kick that was accompanied with a solid crack, Buffy knocked her down to her knees. The vamp tried to take out Buffy’s knee, but she saw the move and jumped into the air, landing neatly on the other side of the vampire. As she was getting back up, Buffy’s stake was driven through her back in a quick, fluid motion. Dusting herself off, Buffy turned to face the group.
“Except maybe that,” Xander said, and everyone started to laugh, except Giles, who looked rather impatient to get the whole thing over with. “Those wacky vampires, always interrupting when you’re trying to do something important,” Xander said and turned back to Giles. “In the words of Nike ‘just do it.’”
Giles was rather impressed that Xander was putting aside his feelings about Angel to help Buffy.
In a way, he realized, they were actually saving the world.
Again.
Saving it from the scourge of Angelus. He glanced at the young people in front of him, thinking how different everything would be if not for them. The world, as they knew it, would be very different indeed.
“Hmm? Ah...yes, let’s get started with the ritual,” Giles picked up a thick leather-bound book that had been dropped when the vampires had burst into the room. Opening it to the marked spot, he began to read the words in Latin, while Cordelia slowly circled the table holding what Buffy thought was an incense burner of some type.
When Willow began reciting the spell, Buffy heard a groan and saw that Angelus was beginning to wake up. Buffy walked over to the cage and knelt down, putting her face close to Angleus’s. “Asa fia. Asa fia. Acum. Acum,” Willow finished, and let out a sigh of relief that it was over. Glancing up, she saw everyone looking anxiously in the direction of the metal cage and Buffy, waiting for a sign.
With a start, Angel woke up, and Buffy saw his eyes glow with an orange-
yellow glow, then they turned green and Buffy watched him wince in pain as the
demon was ripped from his body. His head dropped onto the floor, his eyes
closed.