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Chapter 13


Buffy watched as Angel and Spike drained the blood from the girl and then tossed her body aside. They smirked at each other and advanced on the next. She scanned the area and saw hundreds of young girls all of them watching the same thing as her. Why weren't they running. She turned back to the vampires and hit her chin on a hard chest clad in black.

"You think you can force me to love you?"

His strong hand clasped at her shoulders, his fingers gouging into the muscle of her arms .He drew her close and whispered to her. Buffy pulled back from him quickly and watched as a shaft of light shot from his chest and he disintegrated to ash and dust. Angel stood grinning , applauding the destruction of his wayward Grand childe.

"And to think that could have been me" he sing songed whilst he stifled a snigger "Chump always thought with his heart, even though he knew it would kill him one day"

Buffy shot up from the bed and stared at Spike, he had curl into her and even now, remained in the foetal position . She wiped the tears away and went to the bathroom to wash away the traces of tears from her face.

Spike turned onto his back and stretched his arm out for her, waking when he felt the bed empty. Buffy entered the room again without looking over to him and had her back to him as she closed the door carefully, trying not to wake him.

"Difficulty sleeping pet?"

Buffy tensed and he noticed it , tilting his head and frowning "Wat's got you so spooked ?"
"It's nothing , go back to sleep , just a stupid dream"
"This coming from you, the one that has those blood filled , torture laidened Slayer dreams"

He waited for her to either tell him the truth or to at least reassure him that she was fine and it was nothing, looked like he had a long wait, best get comfy he thought.

"I can smell your tears, so try again " he pushed
"Okay, I had a dream about you dusting and Angelus mocking it, you" Buffy slammed her head back against her pillow and turned towards him. "I think it was a Slayer dream though , it seemed to real"
"Your worried that some big nasty or Angelus is going to get the better of me, I've been around for soddin' ever and not even the broody bugger managed to off me before now"

He kissed her and stroked her hair , getting a forced smile from her. Buffy settled again and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, giving her the sense of security that she needed to go back to sleep.


Willow collected the herbs that she needed and ran over the various items laid out on the kitchen side. Everything was present and correct and so, it was time to try the incantation that would not only anchor Angels soul but would help him with his sanity. Right now he wasn't the sharpest stake in the weapons chest and he was kinda scary with it. Willow wasn't looking forward to doing this spell in front of him. The previous times that she had performed spells on him, she had been in another building across town from him.

Giles walked through the front door and Willow looked down the hall from her place in the kitchen. He looked at her and smiled sheepishly. Since her bout of dark magicks and bringing Buffy back, Giles was cautious when it came to asking her to help out . So, he'd turned up so that he could act as an anchor, to stop her from going off the deep end and falling into the wicked world of black magic and world endage.

"Is everything set?" he asked
"More or less, just got to wait for Anya and Buffy and Spike to wake up"
"Enough time for a cup of tea and and an aspirin then"

Willow tried to smile back at him but her nerves and her worry that he was turning to drink more, kept it from being easy. The strain of the past few months was starting to show on the Scoobies and by the looks of it, they were cracking under the pressure. Thank goddess there wasn't an apocalypse looming.

"When your ready then Willow I think we should get started with the preliminaries and anoint Angel with the balm, I'm sure the others shouldn't be much longer. "
"Okay" Willow collected the articles and headed towards the basement , Giles followed her.

Xander walked in through the front door at the same time as Buffy and Spike were coming down the stairs. Xander briefly smiled at them and then walked through to the kitchen. Joyce was making breakfast and serving up cups of tea. She sat on one of the stools and rubbed at her temples, wishing away the headache that seemed to have set up permanent residence . Monday, come hell or high water, she was taking the day off and going to her doctors if it hasn't dissipated. Right now Buffy needed her to be strong .

Angel slouched on the cot and was whistling away to himself. The book that Spike had begrudgingly thrown at him had been read cover to cover three times. A book loses something when you already have every word embedded in your memory. So, whistling, not just any ditty but one of the most annoying ones . Ten green bottles was a torture Spike himself had introduced Angelus too , and he used it effectively whenever he could. Which was now turning around and biting him on the arse. The only thing Spike was grateful for was the fact that the overgrown forehead wasn't actually singing. Damn that man was tone deaf! Kinda explained the Barry Manilow fixation then.

Willow set the table up and it started to resemble an altar , which worried him . The panic rose in him and he pulled Buffy to one side.

"Can't you get Red to do this some place else , I don't like the thought of her using these magicks in our home pet. It's dark stuff, can't get my bloody head round the fact that Rupes is letting her do it"
"It;s okay, Giles has assured me that it's safe and he's here to keep her grounded"
"And that's s'posed to put my mind at ease?" he raised his brow questioningly

Buffy huffed and looked back to the trio a few steps away. She had to trust them to do what was needed and what was right.

"What is that smell!" Buffy almost screeched as she covered her nose with her jumper covered hands
"That would be the petrified chicken gizzard and the lizard tongue" Giles said frowning as the stench hit him
Spike wasn't fairing much better in fact it was worse for him, vampire sense of smell and all. He watched as Willow chanted the spell in Latin and the lights emanated from her fingertips. They swirled around the basement and settled over Buffy, then moved to him, before finally hovering over Angel. The lights swung across the room and then charged into Angels chest.

He arched backwards onto the bed in an unnatural pose, light built around him until he was obscured by it. His screams seem to reach into the very core of the group in the basement, and they could all feel his pain.Buffy clung to Spike and buried her head and fisted hands into his tee shirt. This was not what they expected. Angel definitely didn't expect it. It felt like his blood was lava and his heart and soul were burning in the pits of hell, he wondered if he would fall way to ash and cinder from it.

Giles held his hankie over his mouth and nose, in a bid to stop the innocuous smell from penetrating his senses any longer. Sulphur hung in the air, whether it was the herbs that were burning along with the elementals or whether it was in fact Angel himself, he didn't know. Giles had nothing to compare the smell to as he had never smelt burning vampire before.

Spikes jaw was set firm and his free hand fisted at his side. Sure he hated to wanker, but this just looked barbaric. There was no bloody way he'd let Red do this spell on him. The heat that radiated off Angel now was intense and Spike was sure there'd be sod all left of Angel once it was completed. The light grew even brighter still and the blood curdling screams intensified. Light bulbs in the basement blew and then the sound of the one upstairs caught Buffys ears.

Willows hair changed from it's usual copper red to white and she started to glow , basked in white light that seemed to cool the room . Tentatively , she approached the bed that Angel was on and Buffy tried to go to her and hold her back. Spike caught her arm and shook his head, pulling her back into his embrace. Willow sat next to the ball of light that was Angel and put her arms into it. The crackles and hisses grew louder and steam seemed to rise from them. Slowly, Willow embraced Angel and the heat and the bright light died down to reveal them, holding each other and rocking. Buffy felt Spikes hold ease and she walked to the cot, standing close but with ample distance so that she didn't burn. She noticed the white hair that now swept over Angels ears and the few that high lighted the spiked front . His eyes held an aged look about them too. He was gasping, as though he needed oxygen, in all the time she knew him ,Angel had never feigned breathing, unlike Spike. His colour was more olive too.

"Willow?"

Silence strained the room as everyone realised this wasn't just a spell to bind Angels soul.

"Angel"

He looked up at her, tears streamed down his cheeks and he sniffed, wiped the tears away and then smiled. He held his arm out for her and Buffy stepped towards him. He fell onto his knees in front of her and clasped at her waist, resting his head on her stomach.

Spike heard it and couldn't believe it. The bloody ponce of a sire of his had been gifted with his own mortality back! He had a bloody heart beat! Only Willow could do something like that.